3. L. cylindràcea, Michx. Commonly smooth (6–18´ high); leaves linear; heads few (½–{2/3}´ long); scales with short and rounded abruptly mucronate appressed tips.—Dry open places, Niagara Falls to Minn. and Mo.
[*][*][*] Pappus very plumose; heads 4–6-flowered; scales acuminate; corolla-lobes naked.
4. L. punctàta, Hook. Stout (10–30´ high), from a branching or globose rootstock; leaves narrowly linear or the upper acerose, rigid; heads usually many in a dense spike.—Minn. to Kan., and southward.
[*][*][*][*] Pappus not obviously plumose to the naked eye; corolla-lobes smooth inside.
5. L. scariòsa, Willd. Stem stout (2–5° high), pubescent or hoary; leaves (smooth, rough, or pubescent) lanceolate; the lowest oblong-lanceolate or obovate-oblong, tapering into a petiole; heads few or many, large, 25–40-flowered; scales of the broad or depressed involucre obovate or spatulate, very numerous, with dry and scarious often colored tips or margins.—Dry soil, New Eng. to Minn., and southward.—Widely variable; heads 1´ or less in diameter.
6. L. pycnostàchya, Michx. Hairy or smoothish; stem stout (3–5° high), very leafy; leaves linear-lanceolate, the upper very narrowly linear; spike thick and dense (6–20´ long), heads about 5-flowered (½´ long); scales of the cylindrical involucre oblong or lanceolate, with recurved or spreading colored tips.—Prairies, from Ind. to Minn., and southward.
7. L. spicàta, Willd. Smooth or somewhat hairy; stems very leafy, stout (2–5° high); leaves linear, the lower 3–5-nerved; heads 8–12-flowered ({1/3}–½´ long), crowded in a long spike; scales of the cylindrical-bell-shaped involucre oblong or oval, obtuse, appressed, with slight margins; achenes pubescent or smoothish.—Moist grounds; common from Mass. to Minn., and southward.—Involucre often resinous, very smooth.
Var. montàna, Gray. Low and stout; leaves broader, obtuse; spike short and heads large.—Mountain-tops, Va., and southward.
8. L. graminifòlia, Willd. Hairy or smoothish; stem (1–3° high) slender, leafy; leaves linear, elongated, 1-nerved; heads several or numerous, in a spike or raceme, 7–12-flowered; scales of the obconical or obovoid involucre spatulate or oblong, obtuse, or somewhat pointed, rigid, appressed; achenes hairy.—Va. and southward.—Inflorescence sometimes panicled, especially in
Var. dùbia, Gray. Scales of the involucre narrower and less rigid, oblong, often ciliate.—Wet pine barrens, N. J., and southward.