COMPOSITAE 127 



2. A. macrophyl'lUS, L. Stem rather stout, mostly roughish- 

 pubescent; leaves roundish-cordate and ovate, acuminate, crenate- 

 serrate, thickish and rough, hirsute beneath, on margined petioles, 

 the radical leaves large ; corymb on rigid spreading branches. 

 Eurybia macrophylla. Cass. $ Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 469. 

 LAUGH-LEAVED ASTER. 



Stem 18 inches to 2 feet high, corymbosely and stiffly branched, often purple. 

 Radical leaves 3 or 4 to 8 inches long, and 2 to 6 inches wide, cordate at base, the 

 lobes often large and overlapping; petioles 3 to 6 or 8 inches in length ; stem-leaves 

 much smaller, ovate, abruptly narrowed to a margined petiole, the uppermost 

 ones sessile. Heads of flowers rather large ; involucre roughish-pubescent ; rays 

 white, often tinged with purple. 

 Jfab. Woodlands ; clearings, &c. : frequent. Fl. Aug. Fr. Octo. 



t f Scale-tips more or less spreading and herbaceous. 

 * Rays violet, or purplish-blue, ; heads rather large, showy. 



3. A. Rild ilia, Ait. Stem smooth, corymbose at summit ; leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, serrate, thickish and scabrous, sessile ; 

 heads of flowers few, on naked peduncles; rays violet-purple; 

 akenes smooth. 



A. nudiflorus. Nutt. $ Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 462. 

 RASP ASTER. 



Stem 2 to 3 feet high, simple. Leaves about 3 inches long, the upper ones not 

 much smaller, entire, and often cuneately tapering at base. Heads of flowers on 

 naked peduncles 2 or 3 inches in length, often somewhat in threes at the summit 

 of the branches, the lateral ones longest; involucre smooth. 

 Hob. Low grounds; Great Yallej : rare. Fl. Aug. Fr. Septem. 



4. A. paten, Ait. Ptoughish-pubescent ; leaves oblong, entire, 

 clasping and auriculate at base ; rays bluish-purple ; akenes silky- 

 pilose. 



SPREADING ASTER. 



Stem 18 inches to 2 or 3 feet high, slender, branched'above, the branches often 

 elongated, spreading, and clothed with minute bract-like leaves. Leaves half an 

 inch to 2 or three inches long, scabrous and serrulate-ciliate. Heads of flowers 

 about medium size (larger in the var. phlogifoUus}, subsolitary on the slender 

 branches ; involucre minutely scabrous. 

 Hah. Moist woodlands : frequent. Fl. Aug. Fr. Octo. 



Obs. There is a variety of this, with largej 1 , thinner and smoother 

 leaves, contracted below the middle, and more conspicuously auric- 

 ulate, which is more common than the patens proper. Dr. MUHLEN- 

 BERG considered it as a distinct species, and called it A. pldogifolim. 



5. A. lavi ? L. Glabrous and somewhat glaucous ; leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, nearly entire, thickish and coriaceous, the upper ones 

 more or less clasping; akenes smoothish. 



SMOOTH, OR POLISHED ASTER. 



Stem 2 to 3 feet high, often dark purple near the base, more or less branched at 

 gummit. Radical leaves 1 or 2 to 4 inches long, spatulate-ovate or oblong, narrowed 

 to a margined petiole about as long as the leaf; stem-leaves 2 to 5 inches long, 

 frarying fn/m lance-linear to ovate-lanceolate, sessile, or the broader ones abruptly 

 farrowed to a margined petiole. Heads of flowers corymbose-paniculate ; scales of 

 the involucre white, with green keel and tip ; rayg long and showy, mostly deep 

 triolet-purple, sometimes paler; disk yellowish. 



