Tas. 4557. 
ASTER S1KkKkIMEnsIs. 
Sikkim Aster, or Michaelmas Daisn. 
Nat. Ord. Composit#.—SyYNGENESIA SUPERFLUA. 
Gen. Char. Capitulum radiatum, fl. radii ligulatis fertilibus 1-serialibus, disci 
hermaphroditis 5-dentatis. Receptaculum planum, alveolatum, alveolorum mar- 
ginibus plus minus dentatis. IJnvolucri squame pluriseriales, laxze vel imbricate, 
apice plus minus herbacez, imo interdum foliacee. Achenium compressum. 
Pappus pilosus, persistens, pluriserialis, setis scabridis subineequalibus ceterum 
inter se similibus.—Herbe perennes, plereque ex America boreali, rarius ex orbe 
vetert aut ex Amer. austr. orte, interdum suffruticose aut scapose. Folia alterna, 
simplicia, integra aut dentata. Capitula solitaria aut plurima, corymbosa seu 
paniculata. Discus flavus, demum interdum purpurascens. Radius albus ceruleus 
purpureusve. De Cand, 
Aster Sikkimensis; caule erecto glabro ramoso, foliis lanceolatis glabris longe 
acuminatis spinuloso-denticulatis venoso-reticulatis, radicalibus majoribus 
sublonge petiolatis, caulinis sessilibus, corymbis amplis polycephalis folio- 
losis, pedunculis pedicellisque pubescentibus, involucri foliolis linearibus 
acuminatis subsquarrosis, floribus purpureis, acheniis scabris. 
Raised from seeds sent by Dr. Hooker to the Royal Gardens 
of Kew from the alpine regions of Sikkim. It flowers with us 
m October, and enlivens the garden at that late season with 
its copious bright purple flowers. We propose to treat it as 
a hardy plant. It seems to have a good claim to rank with the 
genus Aster, as now limited by De Candolle, of which very few 
certain species inhabit India, and those are chiefly confined to 
the temperate climates of the north. It is remarkable of this 
and of our Aser Caubulicus (Bot. Mag. Comp. 1847, p. 34), that 
the stems form almost perfect wood the first year, three or four 
feet high, in the early winter abounding in leaf-buds, but dying 
down with our winter to the root. 
Descr. Root perennial, Stem erect, almost woody, and fra- 
grant, three or four feet high, glabrous, tereti-angular, purplish- 
brown. Leaves glabrous, lanceolate, all of them much and 
narrowly acuminated, spinuloso-serrate, with several parallel, 
very oblique nerves and numerous lesser connecting ones: lower 
JANUARY Ist, 1851, 
