Ballast Eryngo

Eryngium divaricatum H. & A. Bot. Misc. 3: 350. 1833
Eryngium ftaccidum H. & A. Bot. Misc. 3: 350. 1833.
Slender, caulescent, glabrous perennials, 1-3 dm. high or long, from a fascicle of fibrous roots, the stems numerous, prostrate or ascending, branching above; basal leaves ovate to oblong, 5-10 cm. long, 1-2 cm. broad, pinnate or pinnately lobed, the divisions remote, narrowly lanceolate, acute, entire, sparsely spinulose or incised above, the venation reticulate; petioles sheathing at the base, 5-20 cm. long; cauline leaves like the basal, the segments more crowded, petiolate; inflorescence cymosely branched, the lateral branches continuing, to form a monochasium, the heads small, numerous, pedunculate, the flowers numerous; heads cylindric, 8-15 mm. long, 4-5 mm. broad; bracts very few, unequal, herbaceous, spreading, linearsubulate, 3-9 mm. long, entire, shorter than the heads; bractlets subulate, acuminate, 1-2 mm. long, about equaling the fruit; coma wanting; sepals ovate, about 0.5 mm. long, obtuse, mucronate; petals broadly ovate, 1 mm. long; styles longer than the sepals; fruit ovoid, 1-2 mm. long, densely covered with'small, linear, acute scales.
Type locality: Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tweedie.
Distribution: Argentina; introduced on the coasts of North Carolina and Florida.