COMPOSITAE. 953 



16. Aster anomalus Engelm. MANY-RAYED ASTER. (I. F. f. 3749.) Stem 

 rough, rather stout, branched above, 3-9 dm. high. Leaves thin, the lower and 

 basal ones deeply cordate, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, entire or slightly repand, 

 rough-pubescent on both surfaces, acute or acuminate, 7-10 cm. long, 2-5 cm. 

 wide, with slender naked petioles; upper leaves short- petioled or sessile, lanceolate, 

 oblong, or linear, much smaller; heads few, 8-12 mm. high, 25-30 mm. broad; 

 receptacle hemispheric, its bracts lanceolate, acute, or acuminate, hirsute, imbri- 

 cated in several series, their foliaceous tips spreading or reflexed; rays 30-45, 

 10-12 mm. long, bright violet blue; pappus whitish. On limestone cliffs, 111. to 

 Mo. and Ark. Sept. 



17. Aster Shortii Hook. SHORT'S ASTER. (I. F. f. 3750.) Stem roughish 

 or smooth, slender, paniculately branched above, 612 dm. high. Leaves thick 

 glabrous or nearly so above, finely and sparingly pubescent beneath, the lower and 

 basal ones ovate or ovate-lanceolate, cordate at the base, acute or acuminate, often 

 entire, 5-15 cm. long, 2-5 cm. wide, borne on slender naked petioles; upper leaves 

 lanceolate, entire, sessile or short- petioled, not cordate, those of the branches 

 small and bract-like; heads numerous, 10-14 mm. high; involucre broadly cam- 

 panulate, its bracts linear, acute, puberulent, imbricated, their green tips ap- 

 pressed; rays 10-15, linear, violet blue, 10-12 mm. long; pappus tawny. On 

 banks and along edges of woods, western Penn. to Va., Ga., 111. and Tenn. 

 Sept. -Oct. 



1 8. Aster azureus Lindl. SKY-BLUE ASTER. (I. F. f. 3751.) Stem slender, 

 stiff, rough, branched above, 3-12 dm. high. Leaves thick, usually all entire, 

 scabrous on both sides, the lower and basal ones cordate, ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or 

 lanceolate, acute, acuminate, or obtusish, 5-15 cm. long, with slender often pubes- 

 cent petioles; upper, leaves short-petioled or sessile, lanceolate or linear, those of 

 the branches reduced to small appressed bracts; heads numerous, 8-10 mm. high; 

 involucre turbinate, its bracts glabrous, linear-oblong, abruptly acute, imbricated, 

 their green tips appressed; rays, 10-20, bright blue, 6-8 mm. long; pappus tawny. 

 On prairies and along borders of woods, western N. Y. to Ga., Minn., Kans. and 

 Tex. Aug. -Oct. 



19. Aster cordifolius L. COMMON BLUE WOOD ASTER. (I. F. f. 3752.) 

 Stem glabrous or nearly so, much branched, bushy, 3-15 dm. high. Leaves thin, 

 rough, more or less pubescent, sharply serrate, acuminate, the lower and basal 

 ones slender-petioled, broadly ovate-cordate, 5-12 cm. long, the upper short- 

 petioled or sessile, ovate or lanceolate; heads very numerous, small. 4-6 mm. high, 

 12-18 mm. broad, handsome; involucre turbinate to cylindric, its bracts oblong- 

 linear, obtuse or obtusish, green-tipped, appressed; rays 10-20, 6-8 mm. long, 

 violet or blue, sometimes pale (rarely white); pappus whitish. Woods and 

 thickets, N. B. to Minn., Ga. and Mo. Sept. -Dec. 



Aster cordifolius Furbishiae Fernald. Similar; stem and petioles densely villous, 

 the leaves somewhat so beneath. Northern Me. 



Aster cordifolius polyc^phalus Porter. More robust and more branched than the 

 type, leaves smaller, often rough only when dry, the upper ones sessile, ovate; panicle 

 large; heads usually smaller, very numerous. Me. and Mass, to eastern Penn. and Va. 



Aster cordifolius alvearius Burgess. Leaves thin, usually smoothish, cordate, tri- 

 angular-lanceolate, or broader; inflorescence dense, thyrsoid, not leafy, in form resemb- 

 ling that of the lilac; bracts linear, acute ; heads medium sized ; rays blue. On shaded 

 banks, Mass, to N. Car. and Tenn. 



Aster cordifolius pedicell&tus Burgess. Stem leafy, often 12 dm. high; leaves thin, 

 the lower ovate, cordate, the upper ovate-lanceolate, or those of the branches elliptic and 

 subentire; inflorescence loosely pyramidal, often 6 dm. high and 4 dm. broad, its ultimate 

 branchlets long and often naked; heads large, 18 mm. broad or more, often 10 mm. 

 high; rays chiefly purple blue; bracts obtuse. In moist wood borders, Out. to Va. 

 and Ky. 



20. Aster Lowrieanus Porter. LOWRIE'S ASTER. (I. F. f. 3753.) Glab- 

 rous, or very nearly so, throughout; stem branched, 3-12 dm. high. Leaves 

 thickish. firm, a little succulent, the basal slender- petioled, ovate to ovate-lanceo- 

 late, cordate, acute or obtusish, serrate. 5-15 cm. long, those of the stem ovate to 

 oblong, often cordate, contracted into winged petioles, the uppermost lanceolate; 

 heads usually not very numerous. 5-6 mm. high, loosely panicled; involucre tur- 

 binate, its bracts obtuse or obtusish, appressed ; rays light blue, 6-8 mm. long, but 



