198 COMPOSITE, (composite family.) 



3. S. tortifolius, Nces. Closely pubescent ; leaves short, obovate, rarely 



serrate, vertical ; involucre top-shaped ; the scales oblong and slightly spreading 

 at the tips; pappus copious, white. (Aster tortifolius, Michx.) — Sandy pine 

 barrens, Florida to North Carolina, and westward. August. — Stem l°-2° 

 high. Leaves 1 ' long. 



16. ASTER, Tourn. Aster. Starwort. 



Heads many-flowered ; the rays (white, blue, or purple) in a single series, pis- 

 tillate. Scales of the involucre more or less imbricated, mostly with herbaceous 

 or leafy tips. Receptacle flat, pitted. Acbenia usually compressed. Pappus a 

 single row of numerous rough capillary bristles. — Perennial (rarely annual) 

 herbs. Leaves alternate. Disk-flowers yellow, often changing to purple. 

 § 1. Piotia. — Involucre obovate-bell-shaped ; the scales (pale) closely imbricated, 

 and marly destitute of herbaceous tips: achenia somewhat S-angled: bristles of the 

 pappus rigid: leaves large; the lower ones cordate: heads corymbed. 



1 • A. COrymbosus, Ait. Stem slender, smooth ; leaves on slender peti- 

 oles, thin, coarsely serrate, acuminate ; the lower ones cordate, the upper oblong ; 

 involucre shorter than the disk, the scales obtuse; rays 6-9, white. — Shady 

 woods in the upper districts, Georgia and northward. Sept. and Oct. — Stem 

 1©- 2° high. Leaves 2' -4' long. Corymbs loose. 



2. A. rnacrophyllus, L. Stem stout, rough-pubescent ; leaves large, 

 rather thick, rough, mucronatc-serrate, acute ; the lowest broadly cordate, on 

 slender naked petioles; the upper ovate, on short and winged petioles; invo- 

 lucre nearly as long as the disk ; the exterior scales rigid, with spreading fringed 

 tips; rays about 10, pale purple. — Low shady woods, in the upper districts of 

 Georgia, and along the mountains, northward. Sept. — Stem H°-2° high. 

 Leaves 4' -6' long, 2' -4' wide. 



$ 2. CaLLIASTRCH. — Scales of the involucre imbricated in several rows, COriao mis, 

 usually with lierliaceous spreading tijis: rays 12 or more: achenia marly smooth; 

 pappus of unequal rather rigid bristles, somewhat thickened upward: leans rigid, 

 none of them cordate : /nails large and showy. 



3. A. mirabilis, Torr. & Gray. Rough-pubescent; stem corymbosely 

 branched above; haves ovate, mucronate-serrate, sessile; the lowest abruptly 

 narrowed into a petiole ; involucre hemispherical; the scales oblong-linear, ob- 

 tuse and recurved at the summit ; achenia nearly smooth, striate. — Columbia, 

 Booth Carolina, Prof. Gibbet, Sept. — Stem 1°- 2° high. — Stem-leaves l'-3' 

 long. Rays about 20, blue or violet, elongated. 



4. A. spectabilis, Ait. Stem corymbose and glandular-pubescent above; 

 leaves oblong-lanceolate, rough on the upper surface, Besslle and entire; the 

 lowest tapering into a petiole, and sparingly serrate ; heads not numerous, Bingle, 

 terminating the branches ; involucre nearly hemispherical, as long as the disk; 

 the scales linear-oblong, with obtuse and spreading glandular tips. (Abutcu- 

 losus ' Ell., with obovate oblong, mostly serrate leaves, and broader scales of the 



involucre.) — Pine barrens, Florida and northward. Sept. and < )ct. — Khi/.oma 



slender. Stem 1°- 2° high. Leaves 2'- 4? long. Beads ^ in diameter, Rays, 

 about 20, i ' long, deep \ it ilet 



