Thaspium pinnatifidum (Buckl.) A. Gray

Thaspium pinnatifidum (Buckl.) A. Gray, Man. ed. 2. 155. 1856
Zizia pinnatifida Buckl. Am. Jour. Sci. 45: 175. 1843.
Thaspium Walteri Shuttl.; A. Gray, PI. Wright. 1: 79, as syn. 1852.
* Strict adherence to the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature would appear to necessitate retention of the epithet trifoliatum for this variety. The authors feel that such procedure, since the variety is not based upon the type of the species, would result in confusion. The combination Thaspium trifoliatum (L.) A. Gray var. trifoliatum (Coult. & Rose) is therefore rejected as a nomen ambiguum. Plants 6 dm. high, puberulent; basal leaves deltoid in general outline, excluding the petioles 8-15 cm. long, ternate-pinnately dissected, the leaflets pinnately divided, the ultimate divisions linear-oblong to cuneate, 5-15 mm. long, 1-5 mm. broad, the margins entire; petioles slender, 1.5-2 dm. long; cauline leaves like the basal, the upper sessile; peduncles 1-6 cm. long; involucel of 1-several, linear, attenuate bractlets 3-6 mm. long, exceeding the pedicels; rays 13-16, subequal, 1.5-2 cm. long; pedicels 2-4 mm. long; fruit oblong-oval, 3-4 mm. long, 2-3 mm. broad, the ribs equally narrow-winged.
Type locality: "Banks of the French Broad River near the Warm Springs, and near Sugar Town Falls," Macon County. North Carolina. Buckley.
Distribution: North Carolina to Kentucky and Tennessee (Beardslee & 1 Kofoid 23).