Aster. COMPOSITE. 195 



(4 to 8 inches long), oblong- or ovate-lauceolate, saliently serrate in tlie middle, attenuate- 

 acumiuate, and lower half or third narrowed as if into a broadly winged petiole, which is 

 more or less (in most cases conspicuously) dilated into an auriculate-clasping base; upper 

 surface minutely scabrous, lower smooth : heads (mostly 4 lines high) on short rather rigid 

 and divergent peduncles : rays not very numerous, about 5 lines long, pale violet or in shade 

 whitish: bracts of involucre narrow and outer more or less spreading Willd. Spec. iii. 

 2046; Nees, Ast. 61; Darliugt. Fl. Cest. 465; Torr. & Gray, Fl. ii. 142. Moist ground 

 especially along streams, W. New England to Perm, and Wisconsin, and throughout Canada. 

 The var. amber, Torr. & Gray, 1. c. (New York & Penu. in few specimens, with stem almost 

 hispid in the upper part, or else tall and branching), is probably a hybrid with .1. jiunum*. 

 A. puniceus, L. Stem commonly 3 to 7 feet high, loosely branching above, rather stout, 

 often red or purple (whence the name), hispid with spreading bristles which are taper- 

 pointed from a thickened rigid base (but sometimes these are few and sparse): leaves not 

 rigid (3 to 6 inches long), oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, from coarsely and irregularly serrate 

 to sparingly denticulate or sometimes entire, not at all or slightly narrowed toward the sub- 

 cordate-semiamplexicaul base, commonly scabrous above and often hispid along the midrib 

 beneath: heads (4 to 6 lines high) subsessile, either sparsely paniculate or thvrsoid-crowded : 

 involucre of loose and thin soft and narrowly linear merely herbaceous bracts, with or with- 

 out some larger and more foliaceous accessory ones : rays half-inch long, violet, varying to 

 purple or occasionally white. Spec. ii. 875 (Hurt. Cliff., Herm. Lugd. t. 651, &c.); Ait. 

 Kew. iii. 208; Michx. Fl. ii. 115; Liudl. Bot, lieg. t. 1636 (var. di miastis), Torr. & Gray, 

 Fl. ii. 140. A. lu'sju'dus & A. cunmuis, Lam. Diet. i. 306. A. blttridtts, Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 959. 

 Swamps and low thickets, Nova Scotia and Canada, west to Dakota, and common in the 

 Atlantic States as far south as N. Carolina and the upper part of Georgia. A common 

 species in cool districts, generally well marked, but running into some peculiar varieties, 

 which may mostly be grouped under the following. 



Var. leevicaulis. Usually lower, a foot to a yard high : stem mostly green, smooth 

 and naked below, above with mere traces of the characteristic hispid or hirsute pubes- 

 cence: leaves serrate. A.blandus, Pursh, Fl. ii. 555 (Solauder in herb. Banks), appears 

 to be this, but may be A. tardiflorus. A. firmus, Nees, Ast. 66, a low form, certainly of 

 jiniiiceus, with few-flowered branches. A jmnin un, var. Jinnns, Torr. & Gray, 1. c. A. c<m- 

 ferlus, Hort. Par. 1835-1869 (but not of Nees, Ast. 126), a form with numerous thyrsoid- 

 crowded heads. A. vimimus, Nees, Ast. 68 (form with longer and nearly glabrous branches), 

 not of Willd., nor of Lam. New England, Canada, &c. 



Var. lucidulus. A foot to a yard high, very leafy : stems glabrous, or with vestiges or 

 even conspicuous traces of hispidulous pubescence : leaves lanceolate, entire or sparingly 

 denticulate, somewhat lucid, wholly glabrous, but upper surface more or less scabrous : 

 heads commonly numerous and thyrsoid-paniculate : involucral bracts less loose and less 

 attenuate. A. Itiridtis, Weuderoth, Ind. Sem. Marb., ex DC. Prodr. v. 247. A. puniceus, 

 var. rim/urns, Torr. & Gray, 1. c., chiefly. Low ground, New England to Illinois, Wisconsin, 

 and northward. 



b. Rocky Mountain and Western species. 



A. Cusickii, GRAY. Soft-pubescent throughout, or sometimes approaching to glabrous: 

 stems afoot or so high, simple or corymbosely branched, leafy to summit: leaves thin, 

 nearly entire, oblong-lanceolate or oblong; upper ones moderately contracted above the 

 deeply cordate-clasping base ; lower with more elongated narrow lower portion or winged 

 petiole with dilated but smaller auriculate-claspiug insertion: heads large (over half-inch 

 high) and broad, terminating stem or leafy short branches: involucre very foliaceous or 

 foliose-subtended and loose; the larger and broader-lanceolate outer bracts fully equalling 

 the inner : rays numerous, narrowly linear, nearly half-inch long, pale violet : akenes glabrous. 

 Proc. Am. Acad. xvi. 99. Along subalpine streams, in mountains of E. < )regon, Cusick. 

 Mountain meadows of W. Idaho, Wutxoti. The latter seemingly connects with 



Var. Lyalli. Villous with soft pubescence : stem over 2 feet high, rather stout : radi- 

 cal leaves not seen ; cauline mostly narrowed below and with more or less auriculatc half- 

 clasping base, but even lower and larger (5 inches long and inch broad) not petinlar- 

 contracted : heads terminating simple leafy branches : rays long for the size of the head 

 (8 or 9 lines). Between the Kootenay and Pend Oreille, Washington Terr., Aug., 1861, 

 Lyall. Perhaps a distinct species and more allied to A. ampins, seen only in herb. Kew. 



