SrNGENESIA. SUPERFLUA. 155 



swamps. — Perennial. Stems pubescent, terete and sim- 

 ple, many from the same root, 2 or 3 feet high. Leaf 15 

 to 20 lints long-, 8 to 12 broad, on the upper side j)ulve- 

 rulently pubescent, beneath partly villous, reticulately 

 veined. Corymb partly unequal, few-flowered. Calix al- 

 most simple, very short, as in the 2 following species. 

 Radial florets somewhat ochroleucous, about 10; tubular 

 florets the same colour. Anthers not bisetose. Pappus 

 reddish, double, interior less scabrous and rigid than in 

 any preceding species, but similar to the following. The 

 wliole plant is bitterish to the taste. This species after 

 flowering sends up infertile stems with broader leaves. 

 SoUdago noviiiboracensits, of Herb. Muhl. 



15. humilis. Asttr humilis, Willd. Hort. BeroM. 67. A. 

 coriiifolius, Willd. A. vifirmus, Mich. Obs. Rays about 8; 

 calix only about the length of the seed. Pappus double; 

 seed at first pubescent, at length nearly smooth and very 

 large. A species scarcely distinct from the following. 



16. amygdalijia. Aster amygdalimis. Flowers yellowish- 

 white as in the preceding, rays 10 or 12, smaller; stem 

 tall, and leafy to the summit; branches corymbosely fas- 

 tigiate, many-flowered. Pappus double. Anthers in this 

 and the preceding not setose at the base. 



This genus, or subgenus, appears to be peculiar to 

 North America. After a careful examination of near 50 

 species of Aster^ the above, sufficiently remarkable in ha- 

 bit, were all that possessed the double pappus. Among 

 the foreign species, I find a double pappus in Aster chi- 

 nensis, but after such a long series of cultivation it is not 

 now possible to conceive its original aspect, still it may 

 very properly be considered as admissible into this genus. 



559. ASTER. L, (Star-wort.) 



Calix imbricated, the lower scales partly fo- 

 liaceous and often spreading. Radial florets 

 generally more than 10, rarely fewer, violace- 

 ous or white. Receptacle naked, rapjms sim- 

 ple, pilose. 



Herbaceous, seldom shrubby; leaves entire; flowers fas- 

 tigiate or paniculate. Seed more or less pubescent, rare- 

 ly smooth; pappus of many rays, pilose, scarcely scabrous, 

 sometimes coloured. (The smaller flowered paniculate 

 species present a series so intimately connected and po- 

 lymorphous as to elude the botanist in his attempts to 

 draw specific characters. A. foUolosus, A. coridffoUusj 



