43 



COMPOSITAE. 



VOL. III. 



64. Aster ericoides L. White Heath Aster. 

 Frost-weed Aster. Fig. 4345. 



Aster ericoides L. Sp. PI. 875. 1753. 



Aster villosus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 113. 1803. Not 



Thunb. 1800. 

 Aster ericoides var. villosus T. & G. Fl. N. A. 2 : 124. 



1841. 

 Aster ericoides pilosus Porter, Mem. Torr. Club 5 : 



323. 1894. 



Stem glabrous, villous, or hirsute, paniculately 

 branched, usually bushy, i-3 high, the branches 

 racemose, and the branchlets often somewhat se- 

 cund. Leaves firm or rigid, the basal ones spatu- 

 late, obtuse, dentate, narrowed into margined peti- 

 oles, glabrous or ciliate ; stem leaves narrowly 

 linear to linear-lanceolate, acute, entire, i'-3' long, 

 i"-3" wide, those of the branches linear-subulate, 

 numerous ; heads usually very numerous, 4" -7" 

 broad ; involucre campanulate to hemispheric, its 

 bracts coriaceous, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 

 abruptly acute or acuminate, green-tipped, imbri- 

 cated in about 3 series; rays 15-25, white, or tinged 

 with rose ; pappus white ; achenes finely pubescent. 

 In dry soil, Maine to Ontario, Florida, Minnesota 



and Missouri. Frost^weed, Michaelmas daisy. Farewell-summer. White rosemary. Dog-fennel. 



Mare's-tail. Scrub-bush. Steel-weed. Sept.-Dec. 



A densely villous, broad-leaved relative or race of this species, ranging from Ohio to North 



Carolina and Michigan, is known as Aster ericoides platyphyllus T. & G. 



This species apparently hybridizes with A. paniculatus Lam. where the two grow together. 



65. Aster Pringlei (A. Gray) Britton. 

 Pringle's Aster. Fig. 4346. 



Aster ericoides var. Pringlei A. Gray, Syn. Fl. i : 



Part 2, 184. 1884. 

 Aster Pringlei Britton, in Britt. & Brown, 111. Fl. 3 : 



379. 1898. 



Stem very slender, glabrous, simple, or with 

 few or numerous slender ascending branches, not 

 bushy, 6'-2 high. Basal leaves lanceolate, oblong 

 or oblanceolate, 2'-6' long, 2" -6" wide, entire, or 

 slightly toothed, ciliate and sometimes a little 

 pubescent, at least on the slender petioles which 

 are often as long as the blades ; stem leaves nar- 

 rowly linear, those of the branches small and sub- 

 ulate; heads as large as those of A. ericoides, or 

 commonly smaller, usually fewer, solitary at the 

 ends of the branches and branchlets; bracts of 

 the involucre with short green tips ; rays white. 



On banks, especially in rocky places, Massachusetts 

 and Vermont to Wisconsin. Aug.-Oct. 



66. Aster Priceae Britton. Miss Price's Aster. 

 Fig. 4347- 



Aster Priceae Britton, Manual 960. 1901. 



Stem pubescent, widely branched, i-2j high. Basal 

 leaves oblanceolate, obtuse or acutish, entire, petioled, 

 i'-3' long, the petioles ciliate, broad ; stem leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, sessile, ciliate, acuminate, \'-2 r long, those 

 of the branches similar but smaller; involucre nearly 

 hemispheric, about 3" high, its bracts linear, the outer 

 gradually acuminate, green, the inner a little broader, 

 abruptly acuminate, acute or obtusish ; heads about i' 

 broad; rays bright purple or pink. 



In dry soil, Kentucky and North Carolina. October. 



Aster kentuckiensis Britton, also of Kentucky and North 

 Carolina, differs in being glabrous, its involucral bracts all 

 gradually acuminate. 



