COMPOSITAE. 



VOL. III. 



16. Aster Shortii Hook. Short's Aster. 

 Fig. 4297. 



Aster Shortii Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 9. 1834. 



Stem roughish or smooth, slender, panicu- 

 lately branched above, 2-4 high. Leaves 

 thick, glabrous or nearly so above, finely and 

 sparingly pubescent beneath, the lower and 

 basal ones ovate or ovate-lanceolate, cordate 

 at the base, acute or acuminate at the apex, 

 slightly dentate, or entire, 2 f -6' long, i'-2 r 

 wide, borne on slender naked petioles; upper 

 leaves lanceolate, entire, sessile or short-peti- 

 oled, not cordate, those of the branches small 

 and bract-like ; heads numerous, s"~7" high ; 

 involucre broadly campanulate, its bracts lin- 

 ear, acute, puberulent, imbricated in several 

 series, their green tips appressed; rays 10-15, 

 linear, violet-blue, 5"-6" long; pappus tawny. 



On banks and along edges of woods, western 

 Pennsylvania to Virginia, Georgia, Illinois, Wis- 

 consin and Tennessee. Sept.-Oct. 



17. Aster azureus Lindl. Sky-blue Aster. 

 Fig. 4298. 



Aster azureus Lindl. ; Hook. Comp. Bot. Mag. I : 



98- 1835. 

 A. capillaceus Burgess; Small, Fl. S.E. U. S. 1215. 



1903. 



Stem slender, stiff, rough, branched above, 

 i-4 high. Leaves thick, usually all entire, sca- 

 brous on both sides, the lower and basal ones 

 cordate, ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 

 acute, acuminate, or obtusish, 2'-6' long, with 

 slender, naked, often pubescent petioles ; upper 

 leaves short-petioled or sessile, lanceolate or 

 linear, those of the branches reduced to small 

 appressed bracts; heads numerous, 4" -5" high; 

 involucre turbinate, its bracts glabrous, linear- 

 oblong, abruptly acute, imbricated in several 

 series, their green tips appressed ; rays 10-20, 

 bright blue, 3 '-4" long ; pappus tawny. 



On prairies and along borders of woods, Ontario 

 and western New York to Georgia, Minnesota, Kan- 

 sas, Alabama and Texas. Aug.-Oct. 



1 8. Aster cordifolius L. Common 

 Blue Wood Aster. Fig. 4299. 



Aster cordifolius L. Sp. PI. 875. 1753. 

 Aster choralis Steele, Contr. Nat. Herb. 10 : 

 372- 1911- 



Stem glabrous or nearly so, rarely pu- 

 bescent, much branched, bushy, i-5 high. 

 Leaves thin, rough, more or less pubescent 

 with scattered hairs above and on the veins 

 beneath, sharply serrate, acuminate, the 

 lower and basal ones slender-petioled, 

 broadly ovate-cordate, 2' -5' long, the upper 

 short-petioled or sessile, ovate or lanceo- 

 late, smaller ; petioles scarcely margined ; 

 heads usually very numerous, small, 2"-3" 

 high, 6"-o," broad, handsome ; involucre 

 turbinate to cylindric, its bracts oblong- 

 linear, obtuse or obtusish, green-tipped, ap- 

 pressed ; rays 10-20, 3 "-4' long, violet or 

 blue, sometimes pale, rarely white. 



Woods and thickets, Nova Scotia and New 

 Brunswick to Ontario, Minnesota, Georgia and 

 Missouri. Consists of .many races, differing 

 mainly in leaf-form and inflorescence. Sept.- 

 Dec. Tongue. Bee-weed. 



