342 COMPOSITE. Aster. 



»♦**♦ Heads (middle-si~ed or small) moslly racemose : scales of Ike involucre imbricaled andunequal inlenglh, membranaceo- 

 herbaceous, trith short apprcssed or soTtKvhal spreading (not. sqimrrose) greenish tips; rays usually pak or vhit^, often 

 small: stems at length much branched, racemose or paniculate: leaves serrate or entire (the radical ones spatulate, 

 obovate or oblong) ; the cauline sessile, usually tapering at the base. 



12. Aster dumosus, Linn. Bushy Aster. 



Stem smooth or slightly scabrous-pubescent, racemosely branched or decompound ; the 

 heads solitary at the extremity of the spreading branchlets, or rarely somewhat racemed ; 

 leaves linear, crowded, smooth with rough margins, sessile ; the lower cauline ones linear- 

 lanceolate, often remotely serrate with small and sharp appressed teeth ; those of the branch- 

 lets small and mucronulate ; scales of the involucre linear-spatulate, obtuse (or sometimes 

 abruptly and slightly mucronulate), closely imbricated in 4 - 6 series. — Torr, <^ Gr. jl. N. 

 Am. 2. p. 128. 



var. l.verus: paniculate-racemose; the branchlets clothed with numerous linear-oblong 

 and obtuse (obscurely mucronulate) small and spreading leaves ; the upper cauline leaves 

 frequently obtuse. Torr. ^ Gr. 1. c. A. dumosus, Linn. sp. 2. p. 873 ; Bigel. Jl. Bost. 

 p. 311. 



var. 2. strictior : leaves sparingly paniculate or racemose-compound ; leaves usually more 

 or less acute , the lower ones often sligluly serrate ; those of the short branches rather nu- 

 merous, scarcely spreading. Torr. <Sf Gr. I. c. 



var. 3. suhracernosus : stem racemose-compound ; the heads often somewhat racemed ; 

 leaves mostly acute , the cauline ones often remotely serrulate ; those of the branches more 

 scattered, slender and proportional, acute ; scales of the involucre rather narrower, often 

 slightly acute. Torr. <^ Gr. I. c. A. dumosus, Nees, Ast. p. 105. A. foliosus, Ait. Kew. 

 (ed. 1.) 3. p. 202? 



Stems 1-3 feet high. Lower leaves 2-3 inches long, 2-5 lines wide, diminishing in 

 size to the branchlets, where they are 2-3 lines long and very narrow. Heads moslly about 

 one-fourth of an inch in diameter, scattered. Exterior scales much shorter than the inner 

 ones. Rays 20 - 30, short, pale purple or nearly white. Achcnia slightly and minutely 

 pubescent. 



Shady bushy places, and in open woods ; common. August - October. A polymorphous 

 species, of which several varieties, besides those here described, occur in other parts of the 

 United Slates. 



13. Aster Tradescanti, Linn. - Tradescant's Aster. 



Slein slender, often somewhat pubescent, much branched ; the (small) heads numerous, 

 usually densely racemose on the erect-spreading or at length diverging virgate branches, often 

 unilateral ; leaves sessile, smooth, with rough margins ; the cauline ones lanceolate-linear, 

 elongated, mucronatc-acute or acuminate, remotely serrate in the middle with fine and sharp 

 teeth ; the upper, and those of the brandies, successively shorter and usually entire, mucronu- 



