Cicerbita Wallr.

Herbs, perennial with white latex; roots tuberous or fusiform; stems tall or stout, erect, or ascending, usually paniculately branched. Leaves very variable, hastate, deltoid or ovate, pinnate, pinnatifid or runcinate-pinnatifid, dentate or variously toothed, petioled; petiole winged or dilated, pubescent or sparsely hairy, sometimes glabrous. Inflorescence subracemose or spreading panicle. Heads subcampanulate or campanulate, erect or drooping; peduncle slender, bracteate. Involucral bracts in many series; outer ovate-lanceolate, black bristly hairy; inner linear-oblong or oblanceolate. Florets all ligulate; bluish-purple, creamy white or violet; ligules-5 toothed. Stamens 5, appendaged; anthers slender, base sagittate. Style very slender; stigma bifid. Achenes usually dark brown or blackish brown, ovate or elliptic, oblanceolate or linear-oblong, glabrous or sparsely rugose. Pappus simple, whitish or yellowish.

Asia, C. Europe, Siberia, Canada, C.I.S., N. and C. America, from temperate to alpine regions; ca 18 species, 6 in India.

KEY TO THE SPECIES

1a. Tall herbs; stems 0.7-3 m tall, erect, glabrous below and pubescent or hispid above

2

b. Small, stout herbs; stems 0.5-1 m high, usually ascending, finely glabrous or villous

4

2a. Leaves sessile, with broad, toothed auricle; involucral bracts broad, densely ciliate

5. Cicerbita macrantha

b. Leaves with long winged petiole, rarely uppermost sessile; involucral bracts narrow, glabrous or sparsely Pubescent

3

3a. Outer involucral bracts 11-17 x 1-2 mm long; achenes 8-10 mm long, obovate

2. Cicerbita cyanea

b. Outer involucral bracts 3-6 x 1.5-2 mm; achenes 5-7 mm log, obovate or elliptic

1. Cicerbita crambifolia

4a. Leaves deeply divided into many, long, variously shaped segments; outer involucral bracts 1.5-2 x 1-1.5 mm.

3. Cicerbita filicina

b. Leaves oblanceolate or divided into various lobel or pinnules but not divided into segments; outer involucral bracts 3-9 x 1-3 mm

5

5a. Stems short, stout with many erect lateral flowering branches; leaves. entire or dentate or lyrate

4. Cicerbita lessertiana

b. Stems ascending, with many tlowerina branches, sometime. reduced to 1 or few headed scapes; leaves variable

6. Cicerbita macrorhiza

List of Lower Taxa