1914] Fernald,— Some annual halophytie Asters 61 
Aster subulatus as it occurs on Nepisiguit Bay, isolated by many 
hundreds of miles of coast-line from the northern limit of continuous 
occurrence of the species, differs at a glance in its spatulate obtuse 
leaves; and in some other characters it departs from typical A. subu- 
latus of the Atlantic Coast. Its strongly ascending branches bear 
few comparatively scattered heads; the involucres are more herba- 
ceous, the bracts in some plants subequal; and the ligules more 
prominent than is common in A. subulatus and strongly inclined to be 
in only 1 row. These characters, if constant, would indicate a clearly 
marked species, but a close study of the available material shows that 
they are not absolute. The lower and median cauline leaves are 
usually fairly constant in their rounded apex but a few individuals 
from New Brunswick show acute or acuminate tips; the erect branch- 
ing is exhibited by occasional small plants of otherwise good A. subu- 
latus; the herbaceous involucre, though reasonably constant in the 
New Brunswick collections, is strongly approached by plants from the 
Boston district, and exceptional individuals of the New Brunswick 
series have the outer bracts as short as in typical A. subulatus; and the 
ligules, though longer in the New Brunswick plant than in most of the 
material from the Atlantic coast, are very closely approached in 
occasional plants from southern New England, where their length and 
number are variable. It seems to the writer, then, that the plant 
from Nepisiguit Bay is best treated as 
ASTER SUBULATUS Michx., var. obtusifolius, n. var., foliis inferiori- 
bus mediisque spathulatis apice rotundatis vel obtusis; ramis arcte 
adscendentibus paucicapitatis; bracteis involueri plerumque sub- 
aequalibus exterioribus subherbaceis; ligulis 4-5 mm. longis pappum 
valde superantibus. 
Lower and median leaves spatulate, rounded or obtuse at apex: 
branches strongly ascending, bearing few heads: involucral bracts 
mostly subequal, the outer subherbaceous: ligules 4-5 mm. long, 
obviously exceeding the pappus.— New Brunswick: abundant on 
sandy salt marsh at mouth of Nepisiguit (possibly Middle) River, 
Bathurst, July 25, 1902, E. F. Williams & M. L. Fernald; brackish 
marsh along Middle River, Bathurst, August 13, 1913, S. F. Blake, 
no. 5372 (TYPE in Gray Herb.). 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 109. 
Fig.1. Aster laurentianus, X1; fig. 2, marginal flower, X5; fig. 3, corolla of 
central flower, X5. Fig.4. A.lawrentianus, var. magdalenensis, X1. Fig. 5. 
A. laurentianus, var. contiguus, X1. Fig. 6. A. subulatus, var. obtusifolius, X 1. 
Gray HERBARIUM. 
