338 COMPOSIT.E. Aster. 



*♦ Heads (middle-sized, showy) paniculate or somewhat race-mose ; scales closely imbricated, chartaceons and white (^except the 

 midnerve), with short oppressed or slightly spreading green tips; rays bright blue; achenia smooth or nearly so, 

 broadish, compressed, 2 - b-ribbed : whole plant smooth, except the branchlels and rough margins of the leaves, often 

 glancous; eawline leaves lan^olate or oblo^ig-ovate, thickish, sessile or clasping, entire or sparingly serrate; the radical 

 ones ovate or oblong, tapering into a short margined petiole. 



G. Aster l^vis, Willd. Smooth Blue Aster. 



Smooth and more or less glaucous ; stem loosely paniculate or somewhat corymbose at the 

 summit ; leaves lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate or oblong, coriaceous, very smooth, with rough 

 margins entire or sparingly serrate ; the lower narrowed towards the base, or tapering into a 

 margined petiole ; the upper clasping, and mostly auriculate or cordate at the base ; those of 

 the branches very small ; scales of the involucre closely imbricated, appressed, rigid, lanceolate 

 or broadly linear, with very abruptly acute or acuminate herbaceous tips ; achenia shining, 

 smooth, or pubescent with a few scattered hairs. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 876; Bigel.Jl. Bost. p. 313; 

 Lindl. hot. reg. t. 1500 ; Beck, hot. p. 185 ; Darlingt. ft. Cest. p. 468 ; Torr. <Sf Gr. Jl. N. 

 Am. 2. J). 116. A. laevis, leevigatus, mutabilis, amplexicaulis, rubricaulis and cyaneus, Nees, 

 Ast. p. 128 - 132 ; DC. prodr. 5. p. 245 cj- 246. A. rubricaulis, Lam. diet. p. 305. A. 

 amplexicaulis, Muhl. in Willd. sp. pi. 3. p. 2046. 



var. cyaneus : more glaucous ; upper leaves cordate-clasping, oblong-lanceolate ; scales of 

 the involucre more numerous. Torr. <J- Gr. I. c, A. cyaneus, " Iloff. phyt. bl. p. 71. t. B. 

 f. 1 ;" Pursh.fi. 2. p. 550 ; Nees, I. c. ; Lindl. hot. reg. 1495. A. glaucus & politus, A'^ee*, 

 synops. p. 23. 



Stem 2-4 feet high, very smooth, usually dark purplish and glaucous, more or less 

 branched above. Radical leaves 2-5 inches long and an inch or rather more in breadth, 

 varying from ovate- to spatulate-oblong, narrowed into a winged and often ciliate petiole : 

 stem-leaves 2-4 inches long, often wider than the radical ones. Branches of the inflorescence 

 rather rigid, few or numerous. Heads middle-sized. Scales rather coriaceous, whitish, with 

 a green midrib and short rhombic green tips. Rays bright violet blue ; the disk yellow, 

 changing to dull purple. Pappus tawny when old. 



Borders of woods, thickets, and banks of rivulets ; very common. August — October. A 

 very handsome, and variable but easily recognized species, remarkable for its very smooth 

 stem and thickish shining leaves. 



•♦♦ Heads (middle-sized or small) paniculate or racemose ; scales commoiily appressed, charlaccous or somcwhatmcmbranaccous, 

 with short green tips : achenia smooth or slightly pubescent : radical and lowest cauline leaves (large) cordate, with 

 elongated naked or margined petioles ; the upper also often petioled. 



7. Aster undulatus, Linn. Various-leaved Aster. 



Pale, with a close grayish and more or less rough pubescence ; stem paniculate or often 

 racemose-thyrsoid at the summit ; leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, somewhat woolly-pubescent 

 underneath and rough above, acute, with the margins frequently undulate or slightly crenate- 



