COMPOSITE. Ill 



Stem herbaceous, rather thick, corymbosely or paniculately 

 branched, sparingly leafy. Leaves fleshy, 3-nerved, the radical 

 and lower ones oblanceolate or obovate, attenuated towards the 

 base ; those on the upper part of the stem strapshaped, attenuated 

 towards the apex, entire or faintly dentate and smooth at the 

 margins. Peduncles nearly naked, with 1 or 2 bracts below the 

 anthodes. Anthodes usually radiant, in a terminal corymb or 

 corymbose-topped panicle. Pericline oblong-campanulate ; phyl- 

 laries adpressed, the outer ones elliptical, obtuse, scarious at the 

 summit ; inner ones oblong-strapshaped, almost entirely scarious. 

 Achenes pubescent. Pappus about as long as the acliene, yellowish- 

 white. 



Var. a, genuinus, 



Piorets of the ray ligulate, spreading, lilac or white. 



Var. 3, discoideus. 

 Anthodes discoid, without a ray. 



In muddy salt marshes. Common, and generally distributed 

 round the whole sea-coast, and along the banks of tidal rivers. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Autumn. 



Stem stout, 6 inches to 3J feet high ; branches ascending-erect. 

 Leaves variable in breadth. Pericline |^ to ^ inch long. Achenes 

 brownish, very slightly pubescent. Pappus rather dirty-white, not 

 at all tinged with red. Plant dull-green, entirely glabrous except 

 the margins of the upper leaves, bracts, and outer phyllaries, which 

 are sparingly ciliated with very short hairs. 



Sea-side Aster. 



French, Aster cles Lieux Sales. German, Strand-Aster. 



The name Aster is associated, in the minds of most lovers of a garden, with the 

 various and many-coloured autumn flowers of this name. They are, perhaps, the most 

 beautiful of all annual composites. Those which adorn our gardens with their bright 

 blossoms are chiefly of Chinese origin, while the Michaelmas daisies, their pereniiial con- 

 geners, are North American, Our common native sea-side species is not uufi-equently 

 gathered and sold for samphire, either by mistake or because it is collected without any 

 risk. According to Dioscorides, it is called Tripolium, because the flower changes its 

 colour three times a day ; but no such phenomenon is observed in our climate. 



Section II.— LINOSYEIS. D. C. 

 Plorets all perfect and tubular, ray absent. 



