VI 



PLANT^ WEIGIITIAN^ 



75 



of the Salado, Chihualiiia, and near El Paso ; Ap 

 dwarf, precociously ilowerini? state of the species. 



(1395.) 



A 



kably 



M 



foliis oblonsjis seu lanceolatis multidentatis obtusis 



scabro-pubescens vel puberula (viridi aut cinerea) 



bus subulatis 



app 



Dieteria asteroides, Torr. in Bmory, Bep. p. 142. Kcar the coppei 



mmes, New Mexico, and in Sonora near Deserted 

 Leaves from one third to two thirds of an inch 



Sept., Oct 



the 



(11 



52 



half an inch 



hemispherical 



Kays mostly deep violet in the dried 



mens. 



M. PARviFLoiiA, Gray, Pl Wright p. 90. Valley west of the Chiricahui Moun- 

 tains, Sonora ; Sept. (1153.) 



PsiLACTis ASTEROiDES, Graj/, Pl. FeiidL p. 72, 8r Pl. Wright.p. 91. On the Eio 

 Grande, near El Paso ; and in Sonora near the San Pedro. (1154.) 



AsTER? (Megalastrum ; pappi setae rigidce, complanatce, serrato-barbellatae) 

 Wrightii (sp. nov.) : sutfrutescens, subviscoso-pubescens ; caulibus ramisve apice 

 nudis monocephalis ; foliis spathulatis integerrimis acumine setifero apiculatis in 



attenuatis ; capitulo maximo ; involucri biseriali squamis 

 ovato-lanceolatis longe caudato-acuminatis. — Stony hills on the Pio Grande GO or 

 70 miles below El Paso, near the cafion through which passes the road to San An- 

 tonio ; March. — Unwilling to multiply the Asteroid genera, I append this remark- 

 ble plant to Aster, because if it had yellow rays I should not hesitate to refcr it to 



petiolum marginatum 



the 



analogous 



genus Aplopappus. Yet the rigid bristles of the pappus (which, 

 although stout and manifestly flattened under the lens, are still capillary), with so 

 strong a denticulation as to become almost barbellate, and the membranaceous, long- 

 acuminate scales of the involucre, taken with the rather peculiar habit, might justly 

 entitle it to rank as the type of a new genus. It has higher claims to such a rank 

 than Biotia, Heleastrum, &c. The involucre, as flattened in the dried specimens, is 

 over an inch in diameter; and the puberulent-glandular scales are from 6 to 10 

 lines long, including the acumination. Kays 30 to 40, rather broad, 8 or 9 lines 

 long, 2-3-toothed at the apex, purplc, according to Mr. Wright. Receptacle 

 nearly flat, alveolate. Disk-corolla, stamens, &c. as in Aster ; so is thc style, ex- 

 cept that the hispid appendages are rathcr short and obtuse. Ovaries compressed, 

 villous. Pappus white, similar in the disk and ray, about the length of the disk- 

 corollas, not very copious ; the bristles stouter even than in A. eryngiifolius, Torr. 

 ^ Gr., manifestly flattened, taper-pointed, unequal, the smallest half the length of 

 the longer ones and more slender. Stems about a foot high, from a lignescent base, 



angled. Leaves one to two inches 



long, 



including the tapering base or petiole 



obscurely veined, 4 to 8 lines wide, abruptly mucronatc-acuminate, and with the 

 point extended into a setiform cusp. — tJnfortunately only two specimens were seen 

 in flower at the early season when it was discovercd. It has doubtless been since 

 collected by Dr. Bigelow or Dr. Parry. 



Aster multiplorus, Ait ; Torr. §• Grai/, Fl 2. p. 125 (fere /9). Stony hills 



ncar the copper mincs, Ncw Mexico ; and ncar Santa Crnz, Sonora ; Aug., Sept. 

 (1155.) Also on prairies of Zoquete Crcck, Tcxas ; — a cinereous form, with small 



