[+] _Heads small (3" long), cl.u.s.tered along the stem in the axils of the feather-veined leaves, or the upper forming a thyrse._

[++] _Achenes p.u.b.escent._

3. S. cae'sia, L. Smooth; _stem terete, mostly glaucous_, at length much branched and diffuse; _leaves lanceolate_ or oblong-lanceolate, serrate, pointed, sessile; heads in very short cl.u.s.ters, or somewhat racemose-panicled on the branches.--Rich woodlands, common; west to S. E. Minn., Ill., and Ky.

4. S. latiflia, L. Smooth or nearly so; _stem angled, zigzag_, simple or paniculate-branched (1--3 high); _leaves broadly ovate or oval, very strongly and sharply serrate, conspicuously pointed at both ends_ (thin, 3--6' long); heads in very short axillary cl.u.s.ters, or the cl.u.s.ters somewhat prolonged at the end of the branches; rays 3--4.--Moist shaded banks; common northward, and south along the mountains.

5. S. Curtisii, Torr. & Gray. Smooth or nearly so; stem angled, usually branched; leaves oblong to long-lanceolate with narrowed entire base, serrate above with subulate teeth; heads in small, loose cl.u.s.ters; rays 4--7.--Open woods at low elevations in the mountains of Va. and southward.

[++][++] _Achenes glabrous; inflorescence more thyrsoid._

6. S. bicolor, L. _h.o.a.ry or grayish with soft hairs_; stem mostly simple; leaves oblong or elliptical-lanceolate, acute at both ends, or the lower oval and tapering into a petiole, slightly serrate; _cl.u.s.ters or short racemes from the axils of the upper leaves_, forming an interrupted spike or crowded panicle; scales very obtuse; _rays (5--14) small, cream-color or nearly white_.--Var. CoNCOLOR, Torr. & Gray, has the _rays yellow_.--Dry copses, west to Minn. and Mo.

7. S. monticola, Torr. & Gray. Nearly glabrous; stem slender, 1--2 high; leaves oblong-ovate to lanceolate, acute or tapering at both ends, the lower sparingly serrate; heads small, the scales acutish; rays 5--6.--Alleghany Mts., from Md. southward.

[+][+] _Heads mostly large (smaller in n. 12), many-flowered, forming an erect terminal thyrse; leaves feather-veined._

[++] _Leaves numerous, short, sessile, entire, uniform in size and shape; western._

8. S. Bigelvii, Gray. Cinereous-p.u.b.erulent, 2 high; leaves oval and oblong, mostly obtuse at both ends; thyrse rather loose; involucre broad.--S. Kan. and southward. Probably running into the next.

9. S. Lindheimeriana, Scheele. Less p.u.b.erulent; leaves lanceolate or oblong, more acute; heads narrower and more densely cl.u.s.tered; achenes glabrous.--S. Kan. and southward.

[++][++] _Northern or mountain species, bright green._

10. S. macrophlla, Pursh. _Stem stout_ (1--4 high), _wand-like_, p.u.b.escent near the summit, simple; _leaves thin, ovate, irregularly and coa.r.s.ely serrate with sharp salient teeth, large_ (lower 3--4' long), all but the uppermost abruptly contracted into _long and margined petioles; heads large_ (5--6" long), many-flowered, crowded in an oblong or wand-like raceme or contracted panicle (2--18' long); scales loose and thin, long, lanceolate, taper-pointed; rays 8--10, elongated; achenes smooth. (S. thyrsoidea, _E. Mey_.)--Wooded sides of mountains, N. Maine to N. Y. (south to the Catskills), sh.o.r.e of L. Superior and northward.--Very near a European form of S. Virgaurea.

11. S. Virgaurea, Linn. An extremely variable and confused species in the Old World, represented in North America by

Var. alpna, Bigel. Dwarf (1--8' high), with few (1--12) pretty large heads (3--4" long, becoming smaller as they increase in number); leaves thickish, mostly smooth, spatulate or obovate, mostly obtuse, finely serrate or nearly entire, the uppermost lanceolate; heads few in a terminal cl.u.s.ter or subsolitary in the upper axils; _scales_ lanceolate, _acute or acutish_; rays about 12.--Alpine summits of Maine, N. H., and N. Y., and sh.o.r.e of L. Superior.

12. S. humilis, Pursh. Low (6--12' high) and smooth, bearing several or numerous loosely thyrsoid smaller heads, which, with the peduncles, etc., are mostly somewhat glutinous; _scales obtuse_; rays 6--8, short; upper leaves lanceolate to linear, entire, the lower becoming spatulate and sparingly serrate. (S. Virgaurea, var. humilis, _Gray_.)--Rocky banks, W. Vt., along the Great Lakes, and northward; also on islands in the Susquehanna, near Lancaster, and at the Falls of the Potomac.--At the base of the White Mountains, on gravelly banks, occurs a form with the minutely p.u.b.escent stout stem 1--2 high, the leaves larger, broader, and coa.r.s.ely toothed, and the heads very numerous in an ample compound raceme; rays occasionally almost white.

Var. Gillmani, Gray. Larger (2 high), rigid, with compound ample panicle and laciniately toothed leaves.--Sand-hills of the lake-sh.o.r.es, N. Mich.

[+][+][+] _Heads small or middle-sized (large in n. 13 and 17), panicled or sometimes thyrsoidal, not in a terminal corymbiform cyme; not alpine._

[++] _Leaves veiny, not 3-ribbed, but sometimes obscurely triple-nerved._

[=] 1. _Heads commonly large; leaves thickish, very smooth, entire, elongated._

13. S. sempervirens, L. Smooth and stout (1--8 high); leaves lanceolate, slightly clasping, or the lower ones lanceolate-oblong, obscurely triple-nerved; racemes short, in an open or contracted panicle.--Salt marshes, or rocks on the sh.o.r.e, Maine to Va.--Heads showy; the golden rays 7--10. Varies, in less brackish swamps, with thinner elongated linear-lanceolate leaves, tapering to each end, and more erect racemes in a narrower panicle.

[=] 2. _Heads small, in a narrow virgate or thyrsoid panicle; scales thin, acute; leaves nearly entire._

14. S. stricta, Ait. _Very smooth_ throughout; _stem strict and simple, wand-like_ (2--4 high), slender, beset with small and entire appressed lanceolate-oblong thickish leaves, gradually reduced upward to mere bracts, the lowest oblong-spatulate; _heads crowded in a very narrow compound spicate raceme_; rays 5--7. (S. virgata, _Michx._)--Damp pine barrens, N. J. and southward.

15. S. p.u.b.erula, Nutt. _Stem_ (1--3 high, simple or branched) _and panicle minutely h.o.a.ry; stem-leaves lanceolate, acute, tapering to the base_, smoothish; the lower wedge-lanceolate and _sparingly toothed, heads_ very numerous and _crowded in compact short racemes forming a prolonged and dense_ narrow or pyramidal _panicle; scales linear-awl-shaped_, appressed; rays about 10.--Sandy soil, Maine to Va.

and southward, mostly near the coast.

[=] 3. _Heads middle-sized, in a thyrsoid panicle; involucral scales rather firm, obtuse; leaves entire or little serrate, smooth._

16. S. uliginsa, Nutt. _Smooth_ nearly throughout; stem simple, strict (2--3 high); _leaves lanceolate_, pointed, the lower tapering into winged petioles, partly sheathing at the base, spa.r.s.ely serrulate or entire; _racemes much crowded and appressed in a dense wand-like panicle_; scales linear-oblong; rays 5--6, small. (S. stricta, _Ait._)--Peat-bogs, Maine to Penn., Minn., and northward. Root-leaves 6--10' long. Flowers earlier than most species, beginning in July.

17. S. specisa, Nutt. Stem stout (3--6 high), smooth; _leaves thickish, smooth_ with rough margins, _oval or ovate_, slightly serrate, the uppermost oblong-lanceolate, the lower contracted into a margined petiole; _heads_ somewhat crowded _in numerous erect racemes, forming an ample pyramidal or thyrsiform panicle_; peduncles and pedicels rough-hairy; scales of the cylindrical involucre oblong; rays about 5, large.--Var. ANGUSTaTA, Torr. & Gray, is a dwarf form, with the racemes short and cl.u.s.tered, forming a dense interrupted or compound spike.--Copses, Maine to Minn., and southward.--A very handsome species; the lower leaves 4--6' long and 2--4' wide in the larger forms.

[=] 4. _Heads very small in slender spreading secund cl.u.s.ters forming a mostly short and broad panicle; leaves entire or nearly so._

18. S. odra, Ait. (SWEET GOLDEN-ROD.) _Smooth_ or nearly so throughout; _stem slender_ (2--3 high), _often reclined; leaves linear-lanceolate, entire_, shining, _pellucid-dotted_; racemes spreading in a small one-sided panicle; rays 3--4, rather large.--Border of thickets in dry or sandy soil, Maine and Vt. to Ky., and southward.--The crushed leaves yield a pleasant anisate odor; but an occasional form is nearly scentless.

19. S. tortiflia, Ell. Stem scabrous-p.u.b.erulent, 2--3 high; leaves linear, short, commonly twisted, roughish-p.u.b.erulent or glabrate; rays very short.--Dry soil, coast of Va. and southward.

20. S. pilsa, Walt. _Stem stout, upright_ (3--7 high), _clothed with spreading hairs; leaves oblong-lanceolate, roughish, hairy beneath_, at least on the midrib, serrulate, the upper ovate-lanceolate or oblong and entire, closely sessile; racemes many, recurved, in a dense pyramidal panicle; rays 7--10, very short.--Low grounds, pine barrens of N. J. to Va. and southward.

[=] 5. _Heads small or middle-sized, racemosely paniculate; leaves broad or ample, veiny, at least the lower serrate (or entire in n. 28); involucral scales obtuse._

21. S. patula, Muhl. _Stem strongly angled, smooth_ (2--4 high); _leaves_ (4--8' long) _ovate_, acute, serrate, pale, _very smooth and veiny underneath_, but the _upper surface very rough_, like s.h.a.green; racemes rather short and numerous on the spreading branches; heads rather large.--Swamps; common.

22. S. rugsa, Mill. _Rough-hairy, especially the very leafy stem_ (1--6 high); _leaves ovate-lanceolate, elliptical or oblong, often thickish and very rugose_; racemes spreading; involucral scales linear; rays 6--9; the disk-flowers 4--7. (S. altissima, _Torr. & Gray_, not _L._)--Borders of fields and copses; very common, presenting a great variety of forms; usually one of the lowest of common _Golden-rods_. It flowers early. Aug.--Sept.

23. S. ulmiflia, Muhl. _Stem smooth_, the branches hairy; _leaves thin, elliptical-ovate or oblong-lanceolate_, pointed, _tapering to the base_, loosely veined, beset with soft hairs beneath; racemes panicled, recurved-spreading; involucral scales lanceolate-oblong; rays about 4.--Low copses; common.--Too near the last; distinguished only by its smooth stem and thin larger leaves.

24. S. Elliottii, Torr. & Gray. _Smooth_; stem stout (1--3 high), _very leafy; leaves elliptical or oblong-lanceolate_, acute (2--3' long), closely sessile, slightly serrate, strongly veined, _thick, smooth both sides, shining above; heads in dense spreading racemes which are crowded in a close pyramidal panicle_; peduncles and achenes strigose-p.u.b.escent.

(S. elliptica, _Torr. & Gray_, not _Ait._)--Swamps (fresh or brackish) near the coast, Ma.s.s. to N. J. and southward.--Heads showy, 3" long; the rays 8--12.

25. S. neglecta, Torr. & Gray. _Smooth_; stem stout (2--4 high), less leafy; _leaves thickish, smooth both sides, opaque; the upper oblong-lanceolate_, mostly acute and nearly entire; the _lower ovate-lanceolate or oblong_, sharply serrate, tapering into a petiole; _racemes short and dense, at length spreading_, disposed in an elongated or pyramidal close panicle; peduncles and achenes nearly glabrous.--Swamps, Maine to Md., Wisc., and Minn.--Heads rather large, crowded; the racemes at first erect and scarcely one-sided. Very variable, the forms approaching n. 16 and 27.

Var. linodes, Gray. The most slender form; radical leaves 4--8' long and 4--6" wide, the upper very small, erect, branches of panicle rather few, one-sided; rays 2--5. (S. linoides, _Torr. & Gray._)--Ma.s.s. to N. J.

26. S. Bottii, Hook. Smooth, or scabrous-p.u.b.escent or below hirsute, slender, often branched, 2--5 high; leaves rather finely serrate, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, pointed; the upper small, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, often entire; heads loosely racemose; rays 1--5 or none; achenes p.u.b.escent.--Dry grounds, Va. and southward.

27. S. arguta, Ait. _Smooth; stem angled; leaves_ (large and thin) _ovate_, and the upper elliptical-lanceolate, _very sharply and strongly serrate_ (entire only on the branches), _pointed at both ends_, the lowest on margined petioles; _racemes p.u.b.escent, spreading, disposed in an elongated open panicle; rays 6--7, large_; achenes usually glabrous.

(S. Muhlenbergii, _Torr. & Gray._)--Copses and moist woods, N. H. to Penn., Ont., and N. E. Minn.--Racemes much shorter and looser than in the next; the involucral scales thin and more slender; the heads somewhat larger, fully 3" long.

28. S. juncea, Ait. _Smooth throughout_ (1--3 high); _radical and lower stem-leaves elliptical or lanceolate-oval, sharply serrate_ with spreading teeth, _pointed_, tapering into winged and ciliate petioles; _the others lanceolate or narrowly oblong_, slightly triple-nerved, tapering to each end, the _uppermost entire; racemes dense, naked, at length elongated and recurved, forming a crowded and flat corymb-like panicle; rays 8--12, small_. (S. arguta, _Torr. & Gray._)--Var.

SCABReLLA, Gray, is somewhat roughish-p.u.b.escent (Wisc. to Ky.).--Copses and banks; common. Well distinguished by its long or drooping racemes, and the closely appressed rigid scales of the involucre, small rays, etc. Heads seldom over 2" long, the scales small and pale.

[++][++] _Leaves more or less plainly 3-ribbed; heads in one-sided spreading or recurved racemes, forming an ample panicle. Not maritime._

[=] _Smooth and glabrous, at least the stem and bright green leaves._

[a.] _Leaves firm and rather rigid; involucral scales thickish, obtuse, quite unequal._

29. S. Missouriensis, Nutt. Smooth throughout (1--3 high); _leaves linear-lanceolate_, or the lower broadly lanceolate, tapering to both ends, with very rough margins; teeth, if any, sharp and rigid; heads and dense crowded racemes nearly as in n. 28; _achenes nearly glabrous_.--Dry prairies, from Wisc. and Ind. south and westward.--Heads 1--2" long.

30. S. Shortii, Torr. & Gray. Stem slender, simple (2--4 high), minutely roughish-p.u.b.escent above; _leaves_ (the larger 2--3' long) _oblong-lanceolate_, acute, the lower mostly serrate with a few fine teeth; racemes mostly short in a crowded panicle; _achenes silky-p.u.b.escent_.--Rocks at the Falls of the Ohio; Ark.--A handsome species; heads 3" long, narrow.

[b.] _Leaves thinner; involucral scales thin, chiefly linear, obtuse._