CARDUACEAE 1219 
oblong-elliptical, chiefly fascicled at the base and there often short-lanceolate or spatu- 
late, sometimes serrulate and 1-2 cm. broad, with ciliate petioles; minute stubby pubes- 
cence covers some even of the larger leaves beneath, and occurs on the main stem and 
branches throughout the inflorescence, which tends to ellipsoid and broadly racemose 
type: heads chiefly solitary on virgate branches, twice the size of A. attenuatus, 3 cm. 
broad, 1 em. high: involuere loose, broad and short: pedicels shaggy with conspicuous 
uniform closely-imbricated bractlets, which are 1 cm. long, each appressed half-way and 
with outcurved tip; upper bractlets more spreading and furry and passing indistinguish- 
ably into the bracts of the involucre ; the involucral bracts chiefly linear-attenuate, taper- 
ing from the base, their green tips large, lanceolate, and conspicuous. [A. virgatus 8 
T. & G. not Banks. ] 
Mountains of Georgia. Late summer and fall. 
46. Aster falcidens Burgess. Plant of firm smooth texture like A. laevis, with simi- 
lar rays and bracts: stem slight or delicate, not rigid, generally arcuate, terete, reddened, 
usually under 5 dm. high ; leaf-blades very thin, of linear type, apple-green, glaucescent, 
of dense opaque texture, remarkable for the absence of veins (unless under a strong lens), 
varying from exceedingly smooth and glabrous (even with the margin without ciliation or 
roughness) to leaves with minute hair beneath and some scabrous hair at the margins : 
radical leaves very pale and glaucous, with oval or oboval blades, the apex rounded or ob- 
tuse, a few acutish, their petioles narrow and longer; lower cauline leaf-blades lance- 
elliptic, entire, 7 x 2 cm., equalled by the narrow petiole (and resembling Pogonia ophioglos- 
soides) ; middle caulines linear, often 2 dm. long by only 1 cm. broad, sessile, short-acumi- 
nate, frequently with severallarge projecting teeth which are nearly opposite or remotely 
scattered ; these notches may be increased till the leaf is pinnatifid, or reduced to many 
shallow crenations, or may be replaced by prolonged oblanceolate-linear entire leaves : 
upper cauline leaves often numerous, 10-15 or more, ascending or spreading, entire, linear, 
straight-sided, tapering slightly to each end but not acuminate, 15 em. by 1.5 cm., finally 
becoming short, linear-acute and erect, still 5 em. long: axiles subulate, rapidly reduced, 
leaving the inflorescence nearly naked: rameals minute, mostly erect-appressed, almost 
overlapping, broadly subulate or setaceous ; branches ascending, short and filiform, reach- 
ing 5 cm. and bearing a single head, or 10 cm. and bearing several : heads often few, form- 
ing a short raceme : rays pale blue : disks early turning deep crimson : bracts linear-elongate, 
suddenly acute, their green tips rhomboid. Differs from the allied A. laevis, A. concinnus, 
etc., in its longer linear straight-sided leaves and its coarse teeth. [A. gracilentus T. & G., 
not Banks. ] 
Mountains of Pennsylvania, to North Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas. Fall. 
47. Aster turbinéllus Lindl. Stems 6-9 dm. high, slender, paniculately branched, 
glabrous below, puberulent above: leaf-blades firm, lanceolate, or oblong-lanceolate, 5-7 
cm. long, entire, ciliate, acute or acuminate, those of the basal and lower cauline petioled, 
those of the upper sessile, those of the branches much smaller: heads about 25 mm. broad, 
mostly solitary at the ends of the branches: involucre turbinate ; bracts oblong, coriaceous, 
obtuse, appressed, imbricated in 5 or 6 series, their tips green only at the apex : ray-flowers 
10-20 ; ligules 6-10 mm. long, violet: pappus tawny: achenes finely pubescent. Resem- 
bles A. continuus Small, but the leaves softer; heads larger, pubescence slight or absent. 
In dry soil, especially on prairies, Illinois to Kansas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Summer and fall. 
48. Aster contínuus Small. Stems 5-11 dm. tall, pubescent with short upcurved 
hairs, much branched above: leaf-blades spreading, more or less fiddle-shaped or oblong, 
2-5 cm. long, acute, shallowly serrate or nearly entire, ciliolate, scabrous-pubescent on bot 
sides, sessile and clasping at the base: heads showy, solitary or clustered at the end of the 
spreading closely pubescent branches: involucre turbinate, relatively short before anthesis, 
becoming 1-1.5 cm. long at maturity ; bracts numerous, linear or nearly so, erect or with 
slightly spreading green tips, acute, passing into the numerous scales of the peduncle : ray- 
flowers 12-15; ligules violet, 1-1.5 cm. long: achenes pubescent. Resembles A. patens 
Ait., but its bracteoles closer; involucre taller, larger, straight-sided, and more narrowly 
turbinate. 
In dry soil, Kansas to Arkansas and Texas. Fall. 
49. Aster patentíssimus Lindl. Resembles A. patens, but its involucre canescent, 
larger, browner, with broader, almost woolly and scale-like bracts. Branches usually long 
and flagelliform and very numerous: leaf-blades small, triangular-oblong, acutish, rigi 
with hirtellous pubescence, scabrous both above and beneath; rameal leaves all nearly 
alike, very small, 2x0.5 cm. or less; axiles very small, chiefly deflexed : heads usually 
terminating long branches or branchlets: involucre somewhat turbinate ; bracts in 5-6 
series, obtuse, apt to be recurvate at the tip which is set with stubby or subglandular hairs, 
