\ 



37 



E 



J 



of their natural beauty. 



Haydi 



tainly descended from pallida, I think we may call it a species, 



Haydi 



be doubtfully referred to occidentalis X Haydcni—x{ occidentalisx^ 

 not Itself the hybrid. I feel exceedingly doubtful about this 

 conclusion, nevertheless, for it seems to imply more free hybridi- 

 zation than is common. 



However, hybrids or otherwise, the whole series of Custer 

 County Castilleias shows us very plainly the effect of altitude in 

 this genus. It acts in changing scarlet to crimson or purple, and 

 in dividing the leaves and bracts. At extreme high altitude 

 dwarfing also is apparent, but this is mainly the effect of want of 



shelter. 



A New North American Aster 



(Plate C.) 



. Aster Torrevi. Stem erect, rather stout, apparently 2 

 to 3 feet high, reddish, puberulent; cauline leaves broadly ovate 

 tapering to the base, conspicuously veined, and scabrous beneath' 

 sharply serrate, the acute apex and the tips of the serratures 

 apiculate-mucronate; upper ones smaller, inclined to be oblong 

 and truncate at the base; inflorescence corymbose; heads nu- 

 merous, crowded on the ends of the ascending branches; bracts 

 of the involucre ovate, obtuse, imbricated in several rows, scar- 

 lous in the center, and green on the tips and along the margins 

 the mner shghtly tinged with purple, woolly-ciliate; rays about 

 4 hnes long; akenes sparsely hirsute. 



It belongs to the same group which includes A. Engelmanni 

 and A. elegans, and has heads of flowers much like those of the 

 latter in all respects, although the involucral bracts are somewhat 

 broader and more obtuse. 



F 



The single specimen from which this description is drawn was 

 collected in 1865, by Dr. John Torrey, on a high mountain near 

 Donner Pass, in California. Remaining in his herbarium until 

 now, without a name, it must have been overlooked by Dr Gray 

 when engaged in the study of the genus. It consists only of the 

 upper half of the plant, of which a figure is here given in the 

 hope that the botanists of the Pacific Slope may be inspired to 

 make diligent search for the re-discovery of a species so beautiful 



onrl ^ir^ll r-^^ul J 



and 



Thos. C- Pqrte 



