GENUS 31. 



THISTLE FAMILY. 



49. Aster gracilis Xutt. Slender or 



Tuber Aster. Fig. 4330. 

 Aster gracilis Nutt. Gen. 2: 158. 1818. 



Stem slender, finely puberulent and sca- 

 brous, corymbosely branched above, i-ii 

 high. Leaves minutely scabrous, the basal 

 and lower ones oval, acute or obtusish, 2'-$' 

 long, 4"-8" wide, dentate, narrowed into 

 slender petioles ; upper leaves linear, linear- 

 oblong, or slightly oblanceolate, acute, en- 

 tire, sessile or a little clasping; heads usu- 

 ally numerous, 6"-io" broad; involucre 

 narrowly turbinate, its bracts coriaceous, 

 glabrous or very nearly so, imbricated in 

 about 5 series, their tips green and spread- 

 ing, obtusish ; rays 9-15, violet, 3"-4J" long; 

 pappus nearly white; achenes minutely pu- 

 bescent. 



In dry sandy soil, New Jersey to Kentucky, 

 Tennessee and South Carolina. Rootstock 

 tuberous-thickened. July-Sept. 



50. Aster Radula Ait. Low Rough Aster. 

 File-blade Aster. Fig. 4331. 



Aster Radula Ait. Hort. Kew. 3: 210. 1789. 

 Aster biftorus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 114. 1803. 

 Aster strictus Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 556. 1814. 

 Aster Radula var. strictus A. Gray, Syn. Fl. i : Part 



2, 176. 1884. 

 Aster Radula biftorus Porter, Mem. Torr. Club 5: 



326. 1894. 



Stem glabrous, or puberulent above, slender, 

 corymbosely branched near the summit, or sim- 

 ple, 4'-2 high. Leaves sessile, rough above, 

 more or less pubescent beneath, lanceolate to 

 oblong-lanceolate, acute, sharply serrate, strong- 

 ly pinnately veined, 2'-$' long, 3"-! 2" wide ; 

 heads several, or sometimes numerous, i'-ii' 

 broad ; involucre hemispheric, its bracts oblong 

 or oblong-spatulate, coriaceous, appressed-pu- 

 bescent, conspicuously ciliolate, their green ob- 

 tuse or acutish tips very little spreading; rays 

 20-30, violet, 4"-6" long; achenes glabrous, 

 striate; pappus nearly white. 



In swamps, Newfoundland to Delaware, Penn- 

 sylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. July-Sept. 



51. Aster Herveyi A. Gray. Hervey's 



Aster. Fig. 4332. 

 Aster Herveyi A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 229. 1867. 



Stem roughish, at least above, slender, simple 

 or corymbosely branched, rarely paniculate, i-3 

 high, the branches glandular-puberulent. Leaves 

 firm, rough above, pubescent on the veins beneath, 

 the basal and lower ones on slender naked peti- 

 oles, ovate, dentate with low usually distant teeth, 

 acute at the apex, narrowed, rounded or rarely 

 cordate at the base, 2'-6' long, i'-3' wide; upper 

 leaves sessile, or narrowed into winged petioles, 

 smaller, entire or nearly so; heads i'-i' broad; 

 involucre turbinate or campanulate, its bracts ap- 

 pressed, or sometimes spreading, densely glandu- 

 lar, oblong or spatulate, obtuse or mucronulate; 

 rays 15-25, violet, $"-7" long; achenes minutely 

 pubescent, striate; pappus nearly white. 



In dry soil, eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 

 Connecticut and Long Island. Aug.-Oct. 



