2. H. scàbra, Dunal. Roughish, especially the leaves, which are disposed to be less narrowly pointed, the upper sometimes entire; rays broadly oblong to linear or oblanceolate; pappus coroniform and chaffy or of 2 or 3 conspicuous teeth. (H. lævis, var. scabra, Torr. & Gray.)—Western N. Y. to Minn., Mo., and southward.
48. ECHINÀCEA, Moench. Purple Cone-flower.
Heads many-flowered, radiate; the rays very long, drooping, pistillate but sterile. Scales of the involucre imbricated, lanceolate, spreading. Receptacle conical; the lanceolate carinate spiny-tipped chaff longer than the disk-flowers. Achenes thick and short, 4-sided; pappus a small toothed border.—Perennial herbs, with the stout and nearly simple stems naked above and terminated by a single large head; leaves chiefly alternate, 3–5-nerved. Rays rose-purple, rather persistent; disk purplish. (Name formed from ἐχῖνος, the hedgehog, or sea-urchin, in allusion to the spiny chaff of the disk.)
1. E. purpùrea, Moench. Leaves rough, often serrate; the lowest ovate, 5-nerved, veiny, long-petioled; the others ovate-lanceolate; involucre imbricated in 3–5 rows; stem smooth, or in one form rough-bristly, as well as the leaves.—Prairies and banks, from W. Penn. and Va. to Iowa, and southward; occasionally adv. eastward. July.—Rays 15–20, dull purple (rarely whitish), 1–2´ long or more. Root thick, black, very pungent to the taste, used in popular medicine under the name of Black Sampson.—Very variable, and probably connects with
2. E. angustifòlia, DC. Leaves, as well as the slender simple stem, bristly-hairy, lanceolate and linear-lanceolate, attenuate at base, 3-nerved, entire; involucre less imbricated and heads often smaller; rays 12–15 (2´ long), rose-color or red.—Plains from Ill. and Wisc., southwestward. June–Aug.
49. RUDBÉCKIA, L. Cone-flower.
Heads many-flowered, radiate; the rays neutral. Scales of the involucre leaf-like, in about 2 rows, spreading. Receptacle conical or columnar; the short chaff concave, not rigid. Achenes 4-angular (in our species), smooth, not margined, flat at the top, with no pappus, or a minute crown-like border.—Chiefly perennial herbs, with alternate leaves, and showy terminal heads; the rays generally long, yellow, often darker at base. (Named in honor of the Professors Rudbeck, father and son, predecessors of Linnæus at Upsal.)
[*] Disk columnar in fruit, dull greenish-yellow; leaves divided and cut.
1. R. laciniàta, L. Stem smooth, branching (2–7° high); leaves smooth or roughish, the lowest pinnate, with 5–7 cut or 3-lobed leaflets; upper leaves irregularly 3–5-parted, the lobes ovate-lanceolate, pointed, or the uppermost undivided; heads long-peduncled; disk at first globular or hemispherical; chaff truncate, downy at the tip; rays oblanceolate (1–2´ long), drooping.—Low thickets; common. July–Sept.—Var. hùmilis, Gray, low and glabrous, some of the radical leaves undivided or with roundish divisions; heads smaller (½´ high) and ray shorter. Mountains of Va. and southward.
[*][*] Disk hemispherical to oblong-ovoid in fruit, dark purple or brown.