Aster. ] LXXVIII. COMPOSITE. (J. D. Hooker.) 253 



2967 ; Clarke Comp. Ind. 48. Diplopappus asperulus and Amphiraphis pedun- 

 cularis, DC. P)-odr. v. 277, 344. 



WESTERN HIMALAYA, alt. 4-9000 ft., from Chumba to Kumaon. 



Very similar in habit and hairiness to A. Thomsoni, but readily distinguished by 

 the (usually winged) petioles and pappus. The heads vary greatly in size, from |-1^ 

 in., and the invol. bracts from short narrowly linear with scarious edges, to nearly 

 1 by 5- in., green and leafy, and the pappus from white to red. 



14. A. Laka, Clarke Comp. Ind. 49; stems short stout simple from a 

 woody tomentose rootstock, leaves with broad sheath-like petioles, ovate or 

 cordate acute coarsely toothed, heads large solitary on stout peduncles, invol. 

 bracts very large ovate obtuse leafy, achenes hairy, pappus hairs white or red- 

 dish equalling the corolla. 



WESTERN HIMALAYA; at Laka, near Dhurmsala, alt. 10-11,000 ft., Ed.geworth; 

 Clarke. 



A remarkable species, evidently allied to A. peduncularis, of which it has the 

 flowers, achenes and pappus, but only 6-8 in. high, with simple stout ascending stems, 

 broader leaves with sheath-like petioles, and very broad obtuse invol. bracts. 



EXCLUDED SPECIES. 



A. NITIDTTLTJS, DC. in Wight Contrib. 9 ; Prodr. 247 ; is founded on an American 

 cultivated plant, probably A. Itevis, Willd. 



A. ACTREUS, Don Prodr. 178, with a yellow ray, cannot belong to the genus. 



21. BRACHYACTIS, Led. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate. Heads solitary, axillary or 

 few in leafy panicles, heterogamous, rayed ; ray-fl. <j> > 1~ -seriate, fertile ; 

 ligule minute, bluish or rosy ; disk-fl. , fertile, tubular, limb 6-cleft. Invol. 

 bracts half as long as the flowers, 2-3-seriate, narrow, outer often leafy; recep- 

 tacle flat, naked or pitted. Anther-bases obtuse, entire. Style-arms of 

 narrow, flattened, tips narrowly lanceolate. Achenes narrowly obovate, quite 

 flat ; pappus-hairs sub- 2-seriate, outer shorter. DISTKIB. Species 6, N. 

 American, Central Asian, Siberian, and the Himalayan. 



1. B. menthodora, Benth. in Hook. Ic. PI. xii. t. 1106 ; tall, erect, 

 glandular-pubescent, root perennial, leaves oblong-lanceolate or ovate serrate 

 upper sessile ^-amplexicaul, lower long-petioled, recept. not pitted, ligulea 

 longer than their styles. B. indica, Clarke Comp. Ind. 49. Erigeron anomalum, 

 DC. Prodr. v. 293. 



ALPINE HIMALAYA; Kashmir, Bind valley, alt. 12,000 ft., Clarke; Sikkim, alt. 

 10-13,000 ft., J. D. H., &c. 



Stem stiff, 1-2 ft. ; branches short, erect. Leaves 1-2 in., cauline decurrent. 

 Heads -f in. diam., chiefly towards the tips of the stem or branches ; invol. bracts 

 few, linear, pubescent, 1-2 outer often much larger and leafy ; fl. pale blue. Achenes 

 A in., nearly glabrous, margins thickened ; pappus \ in. reddish. Whole plant smells 

 like mint, but more sweetly. 



2. B. umbrosa, Benth. in Hook. Ic. PI. under t. 1106; small, annual, 

 glandular and villous, leafy, branched from the base, leaves obovate lobulate or 

 cuneate narrowed into the petiole, ligules minute. B. wangtuensis, Clarke 

 Comp. Ind. 61. Conyza umbrosa, Karel fy Kiril. in Led. Fl. Ross. ii. 498. 0. 

 Koylei, DC. Prodr. v. 381. Vernonacea, Griff. Itin. Notes, 322, n. 1259. 



WESTERN HIMALAYA and TIBET ; from Kashmir to the Karakoram, alt. 8-12,000 

 ft. ; Lahul, Jaeschke. DISTRIB. Alatau Mountains. Afghanistan. 



Branches 4-8 in., rarely more, ascending, leafy. Leaves -f in. Heads many, 

 in. diam., often one in every leaf-axil, sessile or long-peduucled. Aihenes ^ in., 



