84 NAT. ORDER. COMPOSlTiE. 



Aster C-iincnsis. China Aster, or China Starwort. This is an 

 elegant annual plant, rising in height from eighteen inches to two 

 feet ; the stem is erect, stiff, furrowed, and about the size of the little 

 finger, putting out long bending branches from the top to the bottom ; 

 the leaves near the ground, and at the origin of the brandies, are large, 

 and resemble those of common Chciwpodhun, (the mandrake tribe ;) 

 those on the branches are much smaller, and the upper ones nar- 

 rower and very entire ; the flowers are the largest and most beauti- 

 ful of any of llie species in this genus ; the disk yellow — at first flat, 

 then convex ; the floscules of the ray are broad and long, and 

 scarcely notched at the end. 



There are varieties of this plant with single white flowers, single 

 purple flowers, single red flowers ; with double white flowers, double 

 blue flowers, double red flowers, and with variegated blue and white 

 flowers. 



Aatcr tradescanti. Virgin's Starwort. This species is clothed with 

 radical leaves three or four inches long, like those of the willow ; their 

 color varying from a green to a purplish brown, with small scattered 

 serratures. From the centre of these leaves rise several round, 

 smooth, woody, brownish stems, clothed with similar leaves, only 

 shorter. These are elegantly divided into many slender, hard 

 bunches, two or three feet high, and adorned vfith an abundance of 

 very small white flowers during the months of September and Octo- 

 ber. According to some, the disk is purple. The ray of the corolla 

 is white, and afterwards purjjlish. It is a native of Virginia. 



Aster Alpinus. Alpine or Great Mountain Starwort. This spe- 

 cies rises from four to six inches in height, never more than ten in 

 its native situation, and when transplanted into gardens, from nine 

 to ten, but never above sixteen. At the top of each stalk is one 

 large blue flower, somewhat like that of the Italian Starwort. It is 

 a native of the Alps, and flowers in June. There are also varieties 

 of this, some with wliite rays and some with blue rays. 



Aster Nova Anglia. New England Starwort. Tiiis species 



