Scorzonera L.

Herbs, perennial with milky latex; rootstock woody, stout; stems erect, slender, simple or branched from the base, grooved; branches divaricate. Leaves radical as well as cauline, narrowly linear, usually entire or pinnatisect, grass like, keeled; cauline often amplexicaul and curved. Heads homogamous, broadly cylindric or campanulate, erect; peduncle long, thickened. Ligules 5-toothed. Involucral bracts few to many seriate, differentiated into outer and inner bracts, thinly herbaceous, acute or inner acuminate. Receptacle naked or pitted, rarely villous. Stamens 5, appendaged; anthers slender, base sagittate. Stigma bifid. Achenes cylindrical, ellipsoid or subcompressed, subterete or ansled, usually many ribbed. Pappus pale, many seriate, unequal, serrulate or feathery.

Europe, N. Africa, W. and C. Asia from tropical to temperate regions; ca 150 species, 2 in India.

Literature. LIPSCHITZ, S.J. (1935) Fragmenta monografiae generis Scorzonera 1 - 164. (In Russian with Latin deacription).

KEY TO THE SPECIES

1a. Heads ca 1.5 - 2.5 cm long; achenes ca 10-12 mm long, equal to pappus

1. Scorzonera purpurea

b. Heads ca 2-3.5 cm long; achenes ca 12-15 mm long, much longer than pappus

2. Scorzonera virgata

List of Lower Taxa