CARDUACEAE 1219 



oblong-elliptical, chiefly fascicled at the base and there often short-lanceolate or spatu- 

 late, sometimes serrulate and 1-2 cm. broad, with ciliate petioles ; minute stubby pubes- 

 cence covers some even of the larger leaves beneath, and occurs on the main stem and 

 branches throughout the inflorescence, which tends to ellipsoid and broadly racemose 

 type : heads chiefly solitary on virgate branches, twice the size of A. attenuatus, 3 cm. 

 broad, 1 cm. high : involucre loose, broad and short : pedicels shaggy with conspicuous 

 uniform closely-imbricated bractlets, which are 1 cm. long, each appressed half-way and 

 with putcurved tip ; upper bractlets more spreading and furry and passing indistinguish- 

 ably into the bracts of the involucre ; the involucral bracts chiefly linear-attenuate, taper- 

 ing from the base, their green tips large, lanceolate, and conspicuous. [A. virgatus (3 

 T. &G. not Banks.] 



Mountains of Georgia. Late summer and fall. 



46. Aster falcidens Burgess. Plant of firm smooth texture like A. laevis, with simi- 

 lar rays and bracts : stem slight or delicate, not rigid, generally arcuate, terete, reddened, 

 usually under 5 dm. high ; leaf-blades very thin, of linear type, apple-green, glaucescent, 

 of dense opaque texture, remarkable for the absence of veins (unless under a strong lens), 

 varying from exceedingly smooth and glabrous (even with the margin without ciliation or 

 roughness) to leaves with minute hair beneath and some scabrous hair at the margins: 

 radical leaves very pale and glaucous, with oval or oboval blades, the apex rounded or ob- 

 tuse, a few acutish, their petioles narrow and longer ; lower cauline leaf-blades lance- 

 elliptic, entire, 7x2 cm., equalled by the narrow petiole (and resembling Pogonia ophioglos- 

 $oides) ; middle caulines linear, often 2 dm. long by only 1 cm. broad, sessile, short-acumi- 

 nate, frequently with several large projecting teeth which are nearly opposite or remotely 

 scattered ; these notches may be increased till the leaf is pinnatifid, or reduced to many 

 shallow crenations, or may be replaced by prolonged oblanceolate-linear entire leaves : 

 upper cauline leaves often numerous, 10-15 or more, ascending or spreading, entire, linear, 

 straight-sided, tapering slightly to each end but not acuminate, 15 cm. by 1.5 cm., finally 

 becoming short, linear-acute and erect, still 5 cm. long : axiles subulate, rapidly reduced, 

 leaving the inflorescence nearly naked : rameals minute, mostly erect-appressed , almost 

 overlapping, broadly subulate or setaceous ; branches ascending, short and filiform, reach- 

 ing 5 cm. and bearing a single head, or 10 cm. and bearing several : heads often few, form- 

 ing a short raceme : rays pale blue : disks early turning deep crimson : bracts linear-elongate, 

 suddenly acute, their green tips rhomboid. Differs from the allied A. laevis, A. concinnus, 

 etc., in its longer linear straight-sided leaves and its coarse teeth. [A. gradlentus T. & G., 

 not Banks.] 



Mountains of Pennsylvania, to North Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas. Fall. 



47. Aster turbinSllus Lindl. Stems 6-9 dm. high, slender, paniculately branched, 

 glabrous below, puberulent above : leaf-blades firm, lanceolate, or oblong-lanceolate, 5-7 

 cm. long, entire, ciliate, acute or acuminate, those of the basal and lower cauline petioled, 

 those of the upper sessile, those of the branches much smaller : heads about 25 mm. broad, 

 mostly solitary at the ends of the branches : involucre turbinate ; bracts oblong, coriaceous, 

 obtuse, appressed, imbricated in 5 or 6 series, their tips green only at the ; apex : ray-flowers 

 10-20 ; ligules 6-10 mm. long, violet : pappus tawny : achenes finely pubescent. Resem- 

 bles A. continuus Small, but the leaves softer ; heads larger, pubescence slight or absent. 



In dry soil, especially on prairies, Illinois to Kansas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Summer and fall. 



48. Aster continuus Small. Stems 5-11 dm. tall, pubescent with short upcurved 

 hairs, much branched above : leaf-blades spreading, more or less fiddle-shaped or oblong, 

 2-5 cm. long, acute, shallowly serrate or nearly entire, ciliolate, scabrous-pubescent on both 

 aides, sessile and clasping at the base : heads showy, solitary or clustered at the end of the 

 spreading closely pubescent branches : involucre turbinate, relatively short before anthesis, 

 becoming 1-1.5 cm. long at maturity ; bracts numerous, linear or nearly so, erect or with 

 slightly spreading green tips, acute, passing into the numerous scales of the peduncle : ray- 

 flowers 12-15; ligules violet, 1-1.5 cm. long: achenes pubescent. Resembles A. patens 

 Ait. , but its bracteoles closer ; involucre taller, larger, straight-sided, and more narrowly 

 turbinate. 



In dry soil, Kansas to Arkansas and Texas. Fall. 



49. Aster patentissimus Lindl. Resembles A. patens, but its involucre canescent, 

 larger, browner, with broader, almost woolly and scale-like bracts. Branches usttally long 

 and flagelliform and very numerous : leaf-blades small, triangular-oblong, acutish, rigid 

 with hirtellous pubescence, scabrous both above and beneath ; rameal leaves all nearly 

 alike, very small, 2x0.5 cm. or less; axiles very small, chiefly deflexed : heads usually 

 terminating long branches or branchlets : involucre somewhat turbinate ; bracts in 5-6 

 series, obtuse, apt to be recurvate at the tip which is set with stubby or subglandular hairs, 



