120 COMPOSITE. Aster. 



case retain the name, as it is employed in the Hortus Kewensis, where the 

 two species are first distinguished, anterior to Michaux. 



30. A. aspcrulus : somewhat scabrous-pubescent; stem simple, racemose- 

 paniculate at the summit ; leaves sparingly and slightly serrate ; the radical 

 oblong-ovate, obtuse, mostly subcordate, on slender naked or margined peti- 

 oles; "the cauline oblong or spatulate, narrowed at the base, or the lowest on 

 winged petioles, not dilated at the insertion, those of the branchlets minute, 

 scattered ; heads (small) loosely paniculate ; scales of the somewhat hemi- 

 spherical involucre oblong, acute, closely imbricated, shorter than the disk ; 

 achenia very minutely pubescent. 



New Orleans, Drummond ! Georgia, Baldwin ! — Plant 1-2 feet high, pale 

 with a close somewhat scabrous pubescence. Radical and lowest cauline 

 leaves obtuse or slightly cordate at the base, on slender petioles; the others 

 sessile, 1 to 3 inches long, mostly acute, somewhat serrate towards the apex, 

 more or less scabrous above and pubescent beneath, tapering below, but not- 

 dilated at the base. Heads nearly as large as in A. undulatus ; the scales of 

 the involucre fewer, slightly pubescent, appressed, with rhomboid green tips. 

 Rays blue or purple ? 



t t Lower leaves conspicuously sen-ate: heads usually small, racemose or some- 

 what thyrsoid : rays commonly pale blue. 



31. A. cordifolius (Linn.) : stem often flexuous below, racemose-panicu- 

 late at the summit ; leaves glabrous, or often hairy beneath and slightly 

 scabrous above; the radical and lower cauline cordate, acuminate, sharply 

 serrate, on slender naked or margined and ciliate petioles ; the uppermost 

 ovate or lanceolate, sessile or with short margined petioles, often entire ; 

 heads numerous or somewhat crowded in oblong spreading or divaricate 

 thyrsoid racemes or panicles ; scales of the closely imbricated involucre 

 oblong-linear, obtuse or rather acute, appressed, with short green tips; 

 achenia glabrous. — Linn, sjyec. 2. p. 875 [S^- hort. Cliff.) ; Ait. Kew. {ed. 1) 3. 

 p. 207 ,• Michx.! fi. 2. p. 114 ; Pursh! fl. 2. p. 552; Nutt.! gen. 2. p. 156,- 

 Ell. ! sk. 2. p. 364 ; Lindl. ! hot. reg. t. 1-597 ; Bigel. ! fl. Bost. ed. 2. p. 313 ; 

 Darlingt. ! fl. Cest. p. 463. A. paniculatus. Ait. Keiv. I. c. ; Pursh, I. c. A. 

 heterophyllus, Willd. enum. 2. p. 882. A. cordifoUus, heterophyllus, & pa- 

 niculatus (chiefly), Nees, Asl. p. 52 ^- 55 ; Lindl. ! in herb. DC, herb. Hook., 

 8^-herb. Torr. ; DC! j^^odr. 5. p. 233. A. pubescens, Hornem. hort. Hafn. 

 suppl. 1. p. 98, fide Nees. A. latifolius autumnalis, Cornut. Canad. p. 64, 

 t. 65. (Varies, with the stem glabrous, or pubescent in lines above, or 

 roughish-hairy ; the leaves broadly or narrowly ovate, either glabrous 

 throughout, somewhat scabrous above, or hairy beneath ; the branches of 

 the panicle loosely or densely flowered.) 



Woodlands, Canada ! Northern and Western States ! to the mountains of 

 Georgia. Sept.-Nov. — Stem 1-4 feet high. Leaves membranaceous, or 

 rather firm when growing in open situations, loosely veined, coarsely and 

 sharply serrate, the radical and lower ones on slender narrowly margined 

 ciliate petioles, 2-4 inches long; those of the branches small and frequently 

 entire, reduced on the ultimate branchlets or peduncles to subulate bracts. 

 Heads small, usually crowded in thyrsoid racemes on the rather short spread- 

 m^ or divaricate branches; the distinct peduncles also spreading. Scales of 

 the involucre whitish, with green rather obtuse tips, often purple at the apex, 

 minutely ciliate. Rays about 12, pale violet (or nearly white in shade) 

 turning deeper ; the disk changing to reddish-purple. The very numerous 

 heads are smaller than in any of the preceding ; the appressed involucre 

 as in A. Shortli (except tliat it is much smaller), and the pale scales are 

 tipped with short green points. We meet, however, with occasional speci- 

 mens from the Western States, which, in their rather looser involucral scales 



