AST 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



AST 



141 



pagated by seeds, which must be sown in the spring on a 

 warm border, or rather upon a gentle hot-bed, just to bring 

 up the plants : for they should be inured to the open air as 

 .',01)11 as possible, which will prevent them from being drawn 

 tip very weak ; when they are three inches high they should 

 be taken up, and planted in a bed of rich earth, at six inches 

 distance every way, observing to shade them from the sun 

 till they have taken root ; and if the season proves dry, 

 they must be often refreshed with water. In this bed they 

 may remain a month or five weeks, by which time they will 

 be strong enough to transplant into the borders of the flower- 

 garden, where they are designed to remain ; or into pots to 

 udorn court-yards, &c. The plants should be taken up care- 

 i'uliy, with large balls of earth to their roots, and the ground 

 dug up and well broken with the spade, where the holes are 

 made to receive the plants ; and after they are planted with 

 the earth closed about their roots, there should be some wa- 

 ter given them to settle the earth. In August they will Hower, 

 by which tune, if the ground be rich, they will be about two 

 feet high, and furnished with many side branches, each ter- 

 minated by a large radiated flower, forming one of the finest 

 autumnal ornaments of the flower-garden. The seeds ripen 

 in the beginning of October, and should be gathered when 

 they are perfectly dry. In order to preserve the varieties 

 with double flowers, those which grow upon the side 

 branches, being commonly fuller of leaves than the flowers 

 on the main stem, should always be preserved for seeds. 

 Besides the common varieties, white, blue, purple, and 

 red, both single and double, there is now another in the 

 gardens with variegated blue and white flowers. 



36. Aster Tataricus ; Tartarian Starwort. Root-leaves 

 lanceolate-ovate, serrate, scabrous ; stem few-flowered ; 

 ray of the corolla blue. Native of Siberia. 



37. Aster Hispidus ; Shaggy Starwort. Lowest leaves 

 oblong, crenate, scabrous ; stem-leaves lanceolate, entire, 

 ciliate ; stem scabrous, erect, a foot high ; flowers pe- 

 rennial, solitary ; ray white. Native of Japan. 



38. Aster Scaber; Rugged Starwort. Leaves oblong, 

 serrate, scabrous ; peduncles panicled ; stem herbaceous, 

 a foot high. Native of Japan. 



Species from Miller, and from Alton s Hort. Kew. 



39. Aster Glaber; Peach-leaved Starwort. Leaves ob- 

 long-lanceolate, acute, serrate ; stem branching ; flowers 

 terminal, pale blue ; calices linear, erect. Native of North 

 America ; flowering in October. 



40. Aster Serotinus; Late-flowering Blue Starwort, or 

 Michaelmas Daisy. Leaves oblong, acute, broader at the 

 base, helf stem-clasping ; stem branching ; flowers termi- 

 nal, for the most part solitary ; stems numerous, three feet 

 and a half high, shooting out many lateral branches, termi- 

 nated by pretty large flowers, very pale blue, tending to 

 white. Imported from Virginia. 



41. Aster Prsecox; Early Starwort. Leaves oblong, 

 acute, scabrous, sharply-toothed, half stem-clasping ; stem 

 erect, hairy ; flowers corymbed ; calices hairy, erect ; 

 stems a foot and a half high ; flowers large and blue, ap- 

 pearing in July. Native of the Alps and Pyrenees. 



42. Aster Altissimus ; Lofty Starwort. See No. 24, Aster 

 Puniceus ; Red stalked Starwort. 



43. Aster Ramosissimus ; Branching Starwort. Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, stiff; stem very branching, spreading; 

 flowers placed regularly one above another; peduncles 

 leafy ; flowers small, pale, and purple, appearing in No- 

 vember. Native of North America. 



44. Aster Umbellatus; Umbelled Starwort. Leaves lanceo- 

 late, drawn to a point at the base, quite entire, about the 



VOL. i. 12 



edge scabrous ; branches corymbed, fastigiate ; ray of the 

 flowers, which appear in July and August, white. Native 

 of Nova Scotia. 



45. Aster Nervosus; Three-nerved Starwort. Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, acute, nerved ; stem simple ; flowers 

 terminal, in a kind of umbel. Native of Pennsylvania,. 



46. Aster Paniculatus ; Panicled Starwort. Lower leaves 

 ovate, half stejoa-clasping at the base ; upper leaves lanceo- 

 late, small ; stem panicled ; branches one-flowered ; pe- 

 duncles leafy, height four feet ; branches erect, forming a 

 loose spike of large blue flowers. : Native of North America. 



47. Aster Latifolius. Leaves linear-lanceolate, smooth, 

 three-nerved^ flowers corymbed, terminal. The stems a 

 foot and a half high, terminated by peduncles on every side, 

 each sustaining a pale blue flower. Native of Canada. 



48. Aster Procumbens ; Procumbent Starwort. Leaves 

 ovate, toothed ; stem procumbent ; peduncles naked, axil- 

 lary, one-flowered ; the calix is scaly. From Vera Cruz. 

 This species cannot endure the open air of England. The 

 seeds must be sown in a hot-bed ; and the plants will re- 

 quire a stove to protect them during the winter. 



49. Aster Holosericeus. Herbaceous : leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate, serrate, underneath silver-silky ; scapes one- 

 flowered, leafy. Native of New Zealand. 



50. Aster Coriaceus. Herbaceous ; leaves ovate, quite 

 entire, furrowed above, woolly underneath ; scapes one- 

 flowered, leafy, woolly. Native of Zealand. 



51. Aster Cymbalaria?; Cymbalaria-leaved Starwort. 

 Shrubby : leaves ovate, sinuate, rough with hairs ; calices 

 "imbricate, rough with hairs. It flowers most of the sum- 

 mer, and is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



52. Aster Nemoralis ; Wood Starwort. Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, drawn to a point at the base, somewhat scabrous ; 

 branches filiform, one-flowered ; calices lax, imbricate ; 

 leaflets acute ; stem a foot high ; ray of the flower blue, 

 disk white. It flowers in August. Native of Nova Scotia. 



53. Aster Paludosus ; Marsh Starwort. Leaves linear, 

 stem-clasping, quite entire, very smooth, scabrous at the 

 edge ; peduncles almost naked ; calices squarrose ; ray 

 blue, large ; disk yellow. Flowers appearing in Septem- 

 ber and October. Native of the swamps of Carolina. 



54. Aster Patens ; Spreading Hairy-stalked Starwort. 

 Leaves oblong, entire, acute, cordate, almost stem-clasp- 

 ing, scabrous ; branches spreading, elongated, few-flower- 

 ed; calicea imbricate, sub-squarrose ; stem rough witli hairs ; 

 ray of the flower pale blue ; disk tawny. Native of 

 Virginia, flowering in September and October. 



55. Aster Foliolosus ; Leafy Starwort. Leaves lanceo- 

 late-linear, quite entire, smooth, those on the branchlets 

 spreading very much ; calices imbricate ; leaflets acute ; 

 stem pubescent. It flowers in October, and is a native of 

 North America. 



56. Aster Multiflorus Small-leaved Starwort. Leaves 

 linear, quite entire, smoothish ; branches one-ranked ; cal- 

 ices imbricate, squarrose ; scales somewhat leafy, acute ; 

 stem pubescent ; ray white, small. It flowers in Septem- 

 ber and October, and is a native of North America. 



57. Aster Salicifolius Wdlow-leuved Starwort. Leaves 

 linear, lanceolate, quite entire, smooth; calices -imbricate, 

 lax; stem glossy, the height of a man; ray of the flower 

 bluish flesh colour. Native of North America. 



58. Aster yEstivus ; Labrador Starwort. Leaves lanceo- 

 late, almost stem-clasping, quite entire, smooth, scabrous 

 about the edge ; calices lax, with equal leaflets ; ray blue. 

 Native of North America; flowers in July and August. 



59. Aster Junoeus ; Slender -stalked Starwort. Leaves 

 20 



