COMPOSITE FAMILY 249 



— Chilnualna Creek, Yosemite Valley (and Hetch Hetchy ?) 

 to Tuolumne Meadows. 



3. A. yosemitanus Greene. Yosemite Aster. Stems very 

 slender and leafy up to the numerous heads, 1 to 2 ft. high 

 (sometimes dwarfed). Leaves ascending, entire, linear, acute, 

 2 to 4 in. long, closely sessile. Heads in leafy panicles, y 2 to 

 24 in. wide; bracts nearly equal, with flat green slender- 

 pointed tips. Rays violet. 



"Summit to Yosemite Valley" was the range first given for 

 this Aster, and the phrase still nearly expresses our knowl- 

 edge of its distribution. The summit referred to is above 

 Donner Lake. It is also rather common around the south 

 end of Lake Tahoe. In the Yosemite Valley we find it grow- 

 ing in the drier meadows, where it is not rare in half-shady 

 places. The stems are leafy, especially toward the top, the 

 soft leaves standing nearly erect. 



A. adscendens Lindl., from which our species was segre- 

 gated, is a comparatively stiff, rigid plant, with thick leaves 

 and firmer bracts decidedly imbricated. It belongs to 

 more northern and eastern districts, probably not occur- 

 ring in the Yosemite National Park. 



4. A. fremontii Gray. Stems less slender than in no. 3, 

 rigid and stiffly erect, seldom over 14 in. high. Leaves entire, 

 the lower oblong or oblanceolate, 1 to 3 in. long, sessile. 

 Heads in small panicles with reduced leaves; bracts loose, 

 nearly equal, acute but not drawn to fine tips. Rays violet. — 

 Occurs with A. yosemitanus but also ranges to higher altitudes. 

 First collected in the Rocky Mts. 



5. A. occidentalis Nutt. Like no. 4 and with similarly 

 stiff erect and usually short stems but the leaves narrower, 

 even the lower only narrowly oblong; bracts plainly imbri- 

 cated, of 2 or 3 lengths, merely acute. — Yosemite Valley to 

 Lake Tahoe and Washington. 



6. A. canescens Pursh. Stems 1 or 2 ft. high, erect, finely 

 pubescent, also glandular above. Leaves linear or oblanceo- 

 late, the lower toothed and 1 or 2 in. long. Heads J^ to 24 

 in. wide, in panicles with linear leaves; bracts very unequal, 

 the outer ones shorter and with spreading or recurved tips. 

 Rays few, bluish purple. — A widely distributed Aster, found 

 on Rancheria Mt. 



A. frondosus T. & G., is a small species with obtuse, leaf- 

 like involucral bracts, very short rays, and an abundant, soft 

 pappus. It may be expected along our eastern borders and 

 toward Lake Tahoe. 



