1527 



ASTER* spectabilis. 

 Shewy Aster. 



SYNGENESIA POLYGAMIA SUPERFLUA. 



Nat. ord. Composite Juss. {Introduction to the natural system of 

 Botany, p. 197.) 



ASTER.— Siipra, vol. 3.fol. 183. 



A. foliis oblongo-lanceolatis acutis scabris sessilibus inferioribus serratis, 

 caule stricto apice corymboso, ramis rigidis incurvis corymbosis, periclinii 

 foliolis obtusis copiosissimis squarrosis ramuliscpje glanduloso-pubescenti- 

 bus. — Nees ab Esenbeck genera et species Asterearum, 41. 



A. spectabilis. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 1. 3. 209, et fere omnium auctorum. 



A. elegans. Willd. sp. pi. 3. 2042. n. 74, ex parte ; fide Neesii. 



It is well known that the genus Aster has long been 

 the disgrace of Botanists ; that there is no instance in the 

 whole range of Natural History of such imperfect descrip- 

 tions, unscientific arrangement, false species, confused sy- 

 nonyms, and multiplied names, as that genus presents. We 

 have for many years been collecting materials in the hope 

 of being able to reduce it to better order ; and lately we 

 have begun to explain our ideas upon the subject in several 

 articles that have appeared in the present publication. 



But we are fortunately relieved from the prosecution of 

 our undertaking by the appearance of a work from the pen 

 of the learned Dr. Nees von Esenbeck, which, whether 

 we regard the elegance of its style, the precision of its 

 arrangement, the philosophical spirit that pervades every 

 page, or the laborious accuracy with which the whole has 

 been digested, is certainly the most remarkable instance of 

 scientific research applied to systematic Botany that we 

 are acquainted with. Our labour in future will be reduced 



* See fol. 1487. 



