Iostephane
(from ion, violet, and stephane, a wreath; in allusion to the violet rays). ORD. Compositoe. A genus consisting of only two species of scabrous-pubescent herbs, natives of Mexico. I. heterophylla is a very handsome hardy perennial, thriving in any sandy soil. An inverted pot should be placed over the large tuberous root during severe frosts. Propagation may be effected by division; or by seeds, sown in spring. I. heterophylla (various-leaved). fl.-heads nodding; ray-florets lilac, fifteen to twenty, neuter, many-nerved, adpressedly hairy beneath, obtusely tridentate at apex; disk-florets hermaphrodite, funnel-shaped; receptacle paleaceous, conical; peduncles elongated, one-flowered, densely pilose, simple at apex. Autumn. l., radical ones numerous, spreading, petiolate, oblong, acute; base acuminate; margin serrate; cauline leaves very few, lanceolate; superior ones linear-lanceolate, acuminate, entire, sessile. Stems pubescent, clammy. h. 1 1/2ft. 1829. (S. B. F. G. ser. ii., 32, under name of Echinacea heterophylla.)