]222 CAKDUACEAE 



involucre hemispheric to campanulate ; bracts linear, acute, green, somewhat spreading, 

 in 3-5 series, the outer shorter : ray-flowers 15-25 ; ligules violet, 8-10 mm. long : pappus 

 whitish : achenes glabrous or nearly so. 



In swamps, mainly near the coast, Newfoundland to Maine and Alabama. Summer and fall. 

 A. Novi-Belgii litoreus A. Gray, is low and spreading, more or less fleshy, much branched : leaf-blades 

 shorter and broader, thickish, acute, 3-6 cm. long: principal bracts of the involucre obtuse, loose, 

 spatulate. Along salt marshes, Prince Edward Island and Quebec to Georgia. A. Novi-Belgii Atldnti- 

 cus Burgess, has leaf-blades lanceolate, tapering from the middle to an acuminate base and apex, some- 

 times 25 mm. wide : heads usually fewer : inflorescence racemose-corymbose. In shaded swamps. Mas- 

 gachusetts to North Carolina. 



63. Aster elodes T. & G. Tall, slender, smooth, little-branched plants : stem ter- 

 ete, 7 dm. high or less, pale and reddened : leaf-blades narrowly linear, entire, shining and 

 firm, smooth and coriaceous when dry, 5-15 cm. long, often not more than 1 cm. broad, 

 scarcely clasping by the contracted sessile base, divaricately spreading and becoming de- 

 flexed ; rameal leaves very numerous, approximate, oblong-oval to linear, divaricate-re- 

 curvate, with abruptly contracted base and apex, diminished to 1 cm. long on the pedi- 

 cels : leaves (especially the ramea 1 !) with their margins hardened, thickened, minutely 

 spinulose and revolute : inflorescence loosely panicled, with domed, flattened or irregular 

 top : heads often approximate ; chief bracts closely imbricated, rigid, erect, their tips lan- 

 ceolate, erect or spreading, with pale or purple margin ; some green spreading foliaceous 

 outer bracts occur, but they are usually few or inconspicuous. 



In swamps, especially in pine lands, Massachusetts to North Carolina. Summer and fall. 



64. Aster sericeus Vent. Stem 3-6 dm. high, slender, paniculately or corymbosely 

 branched, stiff, glabrous, leafy : basal and lowest leaves oblanceolate, narrowed into mar- 

 gined petioles ; cauline leaves sessile, with a broad base, oblong, entire, mucronate, 1-4 

 cm. long, erect or ascending, with a dense silvery- white silky pubescence on both sides: 

 heads numerous, about 35 mm. broad : involucre turbinate ; bracts oblong, or the inner 

 lanceolate, canescent, imbricated in 3 or 4 series, their tips green, acute, spreading : ray- 

 flowers 15-25 ; ligules reddish violet, becoming violet-blue, 12-16 mm. long : pappus 

 tawny : achenes glabrous. 



In dry open soil, Manitoba to Illinois, Minnesota, south to Tennessee, Kansas and Texas. Late 

 summer and fall. 



65. Aster puyllolepis T. & G. Stem 3-8 dm. tall, more or less canescent, com- 

 monly with a few simple slender branches : leaves various, the basal with oblong or oblong- 

 spatulate blades narrowed at the base, the cauline rather approximate but often early 

 deciduous ; blades lanceolate, oblong or linear-oblong, 1-3 cm. long, acute or obtusish, or 

 those on the branches cuspidate-acuminate, entire or nearly so, rough -pubescent, sessile : 

 heads solitary, or few in clusters : involucres 6-7 mm. high ; bracts various, the outer re- 

 sembling the upper leaves, with ovate or ovate-lanceolate cuspidate-acuminate green blades, 

 the inner linear or linear-lanceolate, acuminate : ray-flowers 16-26 ; ligules 1-1.5 cm. long, 

 violet : achenes glabrous. Kesembles A. sericeus Vent. ; but the heads and branches more 

 approximated, the leaf-bases more narrow. 



In sandy woods. Louisiana and Texas. Fall. 



66. Aster cdncolor L. Stem 3-7 dm. high, leafy, simple, or with few erect 

 branches : leaf -blades oblong or linear-oblong, finely and densely canescent on both sides, 

 or the lower glabrate, sessile, obtuse or mucronate, 4-5 cm. long : heads in an elongated 

 narrow raceme resembling that of species of Laciniaria: involucre broadly turbinate; 

 bracts linear or linear-oblong, appressed, canescent, imbricated in 4 or 5 series, their tips 

 green, acute, the outer shorter : ray-flowers 10-15 ; ligules lilac, drying violet-blue, 6-8 

 mm. long : pappus tawny : achenes villous. Kesembles A. sericeus Vent. ; but more wand- 

 like and spicate, and more canescent than silky. 



In dry sandy soil, mainly near the coast, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to Florida and Louis- 

 iana. Late summer and fall. 



67. Aster adnatus Nutt. Stem 2-8 dm. tall, hispidulous, virgately more or less 

 branched, especially above : leaves various, the basal few, with obovate thinnish blades 

 1.5-2.5 cm. long, the cauline very numerous, approximate on the lower part of the stem, 

 more or less imbricated above and on the branches ; blades oblong to lanceolate, 3-12 mm. 

 long, firm, scabrous, erect and adnate to the stem and branches, sessile : heads relatively 

 few, scattered, singly terminating the scaly branchlets : involucres 4-6 mm. high ; bracts 

 linear or slightly broadened upward, the dark green tips slightly spreading : ray-flowers 

 numerous ; ligules 7-10 mm. long, violet : achenes glabrous. Kemarkable among asters 

 in its minute adnate scale-like leaves. 



In dry pine lands, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Fall. 



68. Aster squarrosus Walt. Stem 2-6 dm. tall, loosely branched above or through- 

 out, nearly glabrous : leaves very numerous, the basal spatulate to cuneate, entire, the 



