Aster. COMPOSITE. 343 



late ; those of the branchlets oblong-linear, small ; scales of the involucre narrowly linear, 

 acute or acutish, imbricated in 3 - 4 series, appressed , the innermost rather shorter than the 

 disk. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 876 ; Michx. fl. 2. p. 115 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 5.56 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 538 ; 

 Nees, Ast.p. 103 ; DC. prodr. 5. p. 241 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 2. p. 129. A. vimineus, 

 Lam. diet. p. 303. 



vax.fragilis : cauline leaves, except the lowermost, minutely appressed-serrulate or entire, 

 usually shorter ; heads more scattered on the branchlets. Torr. <^ Gr. I. c. A. fragilis, 

 Willd. sp. 3. p. 2051 ; Nees, Ast. p. 102. A. tenuifolius, Ell. sk. 2. p. 347, not of Linn. 



Stem 2-4 feet high, bushy, slightly pubescent often in lines, with numerous slender 

 branches which at first are somewhat erect, but at length widely spreading. Lower cauline 

 leaves 3—4 inches long and 3-4 lines wide, with minute remote teeth. Heads small, 

 numerous, solitary or 2 - 4 together, on short leafy branchlets or peduncles which are arranged 

 in a racemose manner along the larger branches. Scales of the hemispherical-campanulate 

 involucre acutish, slightly pubescent, purplish-green, with a pale nearly smooth margin. Rays 

 about 20, pale purple or almost white ; the disk turning purplish. Achenia slightly pubescent. 

 Pappus a little tawny. In the var. fragilis, the branches are more slender, the branchlets 

 larger, more paniculate and looser, and the leaves smaller and more crowded. 



Fields, and bushy places along rivulets ; not rare. August - October. 



' 14. Aster miser, Linn. Starved Aster. 



Stem mostly pubescent or hairy, racemosely branched or compound ; the numerous heads 

 racemose along the spreading or divaricate branches ; leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 

 sessile, attenuate or acuminate at each end, sharply serrate in the middle ; the radical ones 

 spatulate-lanceolate or oval, tapering into a petiole ; those of the branches and branchlets 

 successively smaller and often entire ; scales of the involucre linear, imbricated in 3 or 4 

 series (the exterior much shorter, the inner about the length of the disk), acute or rather 

 obtuse ; rays short and often inconspicuous. — Linn. sp. 2- p. 887 ? ; Torr. ^ Gr, fl. N. 

 Am. 2. p. 130. A. miser, divergens, diffusus and pendulus, Ait. Kew. (ed. 1.) 3. p. 205, 

 and of most succeeding authors. 



var. I. miserrimus ; stem and elliptical-lanceolate or cuneiform-lanceolate. leaves more or 

 less scabrous or pubescent ; the flowering branches short, seldom divergent ; scales of the 

 involucre narrowly linear or linear-lanceolate, acute. Torr. ^ Gr. I. c. A. miser (excl. y.) 

 Nees, Ast. p. 111. 



'var. 2. glomerellus : mostly cinereous-pubescent or rough ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 elliptical-lanceolate or cuneiform-oblong, rough above, mostly short ; heads glomerate-spicate 

 at the summit of the stem, or on divergent branches ; scales of the involucre linear, obtusish 

 or abruptly acute. Torr. <^ Gr. I. c. A. miser, Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 466. A. diffusus, 

 Muhl.; Nees, Ast. (partly). 



var. 3. diffusus : stem pubescent or smooth below, much branched ; leaves nearly smooth 

 (mostly a little rough above, and sometimes sparsely pubescent underneath), lanceolate, oblong- 



