Genus 31. 



THISTLE FAMILY 



49. Aster gracilis Xutt. Slender or 

 Tuber Aster. Fig. 4330. 



Aster gracilis Nutt. Gen. 2: 158. 1818. 



Stem slender, finely puberulent and^ sca- 

 brous, corymbosely branched above, i-ii 

 high. Leaves minutely scabrous, the basal 

 and lower ones oval, acute or obtusish, 2'-3 # 

 long, 4"-8" wide, dentate, narrowed into 

 slender petioles ; upper leaves linear, linear- 

 oblong, or slightly oblanceolate, acute, en- 

 tire, sessile or a little clasping; heads usu- 

 ally numerous, 6"-io" broad; involucre 

 narrowly turbinate, its bracts coriaceous, 

 glabrous or very nearly so, imbricated in 

 about 5 series, their tips green and spread- 

 ing, obtusish ; rays 9-15. violet, 3"-4i" long ; 

 pappus nearly white; achenes minutely pu- 

 bescent. 



In dry sandy soil. New Jersey to Kentucky, 

 Tennessee and South Carolina. Rootstock 

 tuberous-thickened. July-Sept. 



50. Aster Radula Ait. Low Rough Aster. 

 File-blade Aster. Fig. 4331. 



Aster Radula Ait. Hort. Kew. 3 : 210. 1789. 

 Aster bifiorus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 114. 1803. 

 Aster strictns Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 556. 1814. 

 Aster Radula var. strictus A. Gray, Syn. Fl. 1 : Part 



2, 176. 18S4. 

 Aster Radula biflorus Porter, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 



326. 1894. 



Stem glabrous, or puberulent above, slender, 

 corymbosely branched near the summit, or sim- 

 ple, 4'-2 high. Leaves sessile, rough above, 

 more or less pubescent beneath, lanceolate to 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, sharply serrate^strong- 

 ly pinnately veined, 2-3' long, 3"-l2" wide; 

 heads several, or sometimes numerous, i-ii 

 broad; involucre hemispheric, its bracts oblong 

 or oblong-spatulate, coriaceous, appressed-pu- 

 bescent, conspicuously ciliolate, their green ob- 

 tuse or acutish tips very little spreading; rays 

 20-30, violet, 4"-6" long; achenes glabrous, 

 striate ; pappus nearly white. 



In swamps, Newfoundland to Delaware, Penn- 

 sylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. July-Sept. 



51. Aster Herveyi A. Gray. Hervey's 

 Aster. Fig. 4332. 



Aster Herveyi A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 229. 1867. 



Stem roughish, at least above, slender, simple 

 or corymbosely branched, rarely paniculate, l-3 

 high, the branches glandular-puberulent. Leaves 

 firm, rough above, pubescent on the veins beneath, 

 the basal and lower ones on slender naked peti- 

 oles, ovate, dentate with low usually distant teeth, 

 acute at the apex, narrowed, rounded or rarely 

 cordate at the base, 2'-6' long, 1-3' wide; upper 

 leaves sessile, or narrowed into winged petioles, 

 smaller, entire or nearly so; heads l'-lj' broad; 

 involucre turbinate or campanulate, its bracts ap- 

 pressed, or sometimes spreading, densely glandu- 

 lar, oblong or spatulate. obtuse or mucronulate ; 

 rays 15-25, violet, 5"-7" long; achenes minutely 

 pubescent, striate; pappus nearly white. 



In dry soil, eastern Massachusetts. Rhode Island, 

 Connecticut and Long Island. Aug.-Oct. 



