Subtribe 1. E upatorieje, DC.—Heads discoid; the flowers all perfect
and similar, usually white, rose-color, or purple (rarely ochroleucous),
never yellow.
Div. 1. A o e r a t e j f . , Less.—Pappus composed of chaffy often unequal
scales, sometimes aristate or coroniform.
7 . CCELESTINA. Cass. diet. 6. suppl. p. 8, 4*26. p. 227; Less, syn.p.
155 ; DC. prodr. 5. p. 107.
Heads many-flowered. Involucre cylindrical-hemispherical; the scales
numerous, narrow, somewhat imbricated. Receptacle convex, chaffy or
naked. Achenia glabrous, 5-angled. Pappus coroniform or cup-like, slightly
toothed, or sometimes produced into one or two longer teeth or chaffy
scales.—Annual (tropical American) branching herbs, with terete stems, and
opposite petioled and toothed leaves. Heads in rather dense corymbs, pedicellate.
Flowers blue or purple.
§. Receptacle naked.—Ageratoides, DC.
1 . C. maritima: stem decumbent, branching, nearly glabrous; leaves
smooth and glabrous, slightly fleshy, ovate or oval, serrate, tapering into a
slender petiole ; tube of the corolla sparsely pubescent with jointed hairs ;
pappus minute and coroniform, often with one or two slightly produced teeth,
sometimes obsolete.
Key West, Florida, Mr. Bennett! Mr. Blodgett!—Leaves, scarcely an
inch long. Flowers blue.—We have seen specimens of a very similar plant
from Cuba; which however has a pappus of 5 distinct mostly aristate chaffy
scales, and is therefore an Ageratum: it agrees with the description of Kunth’s
A. ? maritimum, (from the same locality) as to the foliage, &c., but not as to
the corolla and pappus.—Surely Ccelestina (at least the section Ageratoides)
and Ageratum are not sufficiently distinct.
8. AGERATUM. L in n .; Gcertn.fr._t. 165 ; DC.prodr. 5. p. 108.
Heads many-flowered, subglobose. Scales of the involucre numerous,
imbricated, linear, acuminate. Receptacle naked. Corolla tubular, dilated
above, 5-lobed. Branches of the style exserted, cylindraceous, rather obtuse.
Achenia 5-angled, narrowed at the base, with a rather large callus. Pappus
of 5-10 distinct chaffy scales, either aristate-acuminate, or obtuse and pectinate.—
Mostly annual (tropical) herbs, with opposite petioled and toothed
leaves, and corymbose heads. Flowers blue or white.
1 . A . conyzoides (Linn.): stem branching; leaves ovate, rhomboid, or
cordate, on rather long petioles ; pappus of 5 somewhat serrate chaffy scales,
dilated at the base, acuminate-aristate; the subulate awns as long as the
corolla (flowers blue or white).—Linn. spec. 2. p. 839; Swartz, obs. p. 301 ;'
Schkuhr, handb. t. 238 ; Hook. exot.Jl. t. 15 ; DC. prodr. b.p. 108.
Wet places near Savannah, Georgia, Mr. Curtis! April-June.—Found
in almost every country within or near the tropics, varying greatly in the
form of the leaves ; the stem and petioles also sometimes hispid, but occasionally
almost glabrous. In this country it has only heen detected by Mr. Curtis,
whose specimens seem to accord with the variety Mexicanum (A. Mexi-
canum, Bot. mag. t. 2524), except that the flowers are white.
9. SCLEROLEPIS. Cass. diet. 25. p. 365, 413*! Less. syn. p. 136.
Head many-flowered. Scales of the involucre linear, equal, in a double
series. Receptacle naked. Corolla tubular-infundibuliform, 5-toothed, glabrous.
Branches of the style much exserted, somewhat clavate. Achenia
5-angular. Pappus of 5 almost horny short oval and obtuse scales, in a
single series.—A glabrous perennial (aquatic) herb ; with simple stems, procumbent
at the base, terminated usually by a single head. Leaves verti-
cillate (5-6 in a whorl), linear, entire, 1 -nerved (resembling those of Hip-
puris). Flowers pale purple.
S. verlicillata (Cass. 1. c.)—DC. ! prodr. 5. p. 114. Sparganophorus
verticillatus, Michx.! fl. 2. p. 95, f, 42 ; Nutt.! gen. 2. p. 139 ; Ell. sk. 2.
p . 312. iEthulia uniflora, Walt. Car. p. 195.
Shallow water in pine barrens, New Jersey (at Quaker Bridge !) to Florida
! July-Sept.—Stem 1-2 feet high, very leafy, a little pubescent at the
summit, as also the involucre.—We .have a form from Florida, with very
slender stems, only about 6 inches high, and the involucre nearly glabrous.
Div. 2. A d e n o s t t l e j e , DC.—Pappus composed of slender hair-like
bristles, either scabrous or plumose, in one or more series.
10. CARPHEPHORUS. Cass, in bull, philom. 1816, 4* diet. sci. nat. 7.
p. 149 ; DC.prodr. 5. p. 132. (excl. spec. no. 2?)
Species of Liatris, Michx., Nutt., DC.
Heads many- (about 20-) flowered. Scales of the involucre imbricated in
3-5 series, ovate or lanceolate, appressed. Receptacle chaffy; the scales
(subtending the flowers) lanceolate or linear, rigid, 3-nerved, mostly shorter
than the flowers, deciduous with the fruit. Corolla more or less dilated
above; the lobes ovate or lanceolate, mostly short. Anthers usually included.
Branches of the style exserted, cylindraceous, obtuse. Achenia
terete or somewhat angled, narrowed towards the base, 10-ribbed. Pappus
of numerous (30-40) barbellate (rarely minutely plumose) unequal bristles,
somewhat in a double or triple series.—Perennial herbs (mostly North American),
with the habit of Liatris, from which the chaffy receptacle chiefly distinguishes
it. Root, or caudex, thickened, but not tuberous. Stem simple,
or corymbose at the summit, leafy. Leaves impressed-punctate, rigid, entire
(or toothed ?); the'cauline ones commonly appressed. Heads corym-
bose-cymose, rarely racemose. Flowers purple.
This genus was established by Cassini on a specimen preserved in the herbarium
of Jussieu, with no label or any indication of its native country, whence it has not
subsequently been recognized. De Candolle having added a second species, founded
VOL. II.—9