COMPOSITE. 163 



5. A. spedabilis Ait. : stem scabrous, corymbose at the summit ; leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, very rough ; upper sessile and entire ; lower serrate and 

 petioled ; involucre hemispheric ; scales numerous, obtuse, squarrose, glan- 

 dulTlr-pubescent. A. grandiflorus Walt. A. elegans Willd. 



Sandy soil. Mass. to Flor. W. to Ken. Aug.— Nov. 'l\-.—Stem 2 feet high ; 

 branches 2 or 3-flowered, somewhat hairy. Heads 10 — 15 in a corymb, large 

 and blue. SJiowy Aster. 



6. A. gracilis Nutt. : stem slightly pubescent, corymbose at the summit ; 

 leaves roughish, obscurely crenulate-serrate ; radical oblong or spatulate, 

 or naked petioles ; cauline oblanceolate or narrow oblong, slightly clasping ; 

 heads in a spreading corymb ; involucre obconic, as long as the disk ; scales 

 whitish and coriaceous, with spreading tips. 



Pine barrens. N. J. W. to Tenn. Sept. %. — Stems several, often from the 

 same surculose caudex, about a foot high, simple or with corymbose flowering 

 branches. Heads about 30-flowered ; rays violet. Resembles the preceding. 



Slender Aster. 



7. A. Radula Ait. : stem smoothish, angular, corymbose ; branches few 

 and nearly naked ; leaves lanceolate, attenuate at both ends, rugose, very 

 rough, coarsely serrate in the middle ; scales of the involucre imbricate, ob- 

 long, somewhat acute, spreading at the tips. A. nudijlorus Nutt. 



Low grounds. Nova Scotia and Maine to Penn. ; rare. Aug., Sept. %.. — 

 Stem 1 — 3 feet high, with a few spreading branches at the summit, purplish. 

 Leaves numerous, about 3 inches long. Heads few, large, on peduncles 2 or 3 

 inches long ; rays numerous, pale purple ; disk yellow. Rasp-leaved Aster. 



8. A. Novcc-Anglicc Linn. : stem stout, hairy, corymbose at the summit; 

 leaves narrow-lanceolate, hairy, clasping, auriculate, crowded on the 

 branchlets ; scales of the involucre subulate-linear, viscid, as long as the 

 disk. 



3Ieadows. Can. to Car. Sept.— Nov. %.—Stem 3--6 feet high, almost 

 hispid, with spreading branches. Heads large, in a loose terminal panicle ; rays 

 purple ; disk yellow. A very ornamental species. New England Aster. 



9. A. patens Ait. : stem hairy, paniculate at the summit ; leaves oblong- 

 ovate, cordate, clasping, rough, entire ; those of the divaricate slender 

 branches very small ; scales of the involucre imbricate, linear-lanceolate, 

 somewhat rough, spreading. A. amplezicaulis Mich. 



Moist grounds. Mass. to Flor. W. to Texas. Aug. — Nov. %. — Stem 1—3 

 feet high, slender, rough, with spreading branches. Leaves of the branches 

 small and bract-like. Heads middle-sized, subsolitary on the slender branches ; 

 rays purplisli-blue. Spreading Aster. 



\0. A. phlogifolius Muhl. : stem very simple, pubescent, paniculate above ; 

 leaves oblong-lanceolate, entire, narrower below the middle, auriculate and 

 clasping at base, tapering to an acute point, pubescent beneath ; scales of 

 the involucre loose, imbricate, lanceolate. A. patens,\a.T. phlogifoli^ls Nees. 



Moist grounds. N. Y. to Car. Aug — Oct. %.—Slem 1—3 feet high. Leaves 

 larger than in the preceding, auriculate-cordate and a little dilated at base. 

 Heads few ; rays purplish. Phlox-leaved Aster. 



*** Scales of the involucre more or less membranaceous on the margin. 

 Bristles of the pappus soft, capillary, nearly equal. Receptacle alvedaU- 

 toothed. Achenia smooth or slightly pubescent. Genuini Nees. 



