122 



in having white rays; in many cases they agree better with re- 

 lated species. 



A. prenanthoides is to be regarded as local in Wisconsin, 

 ranging scarcely beyond the confines of Milwaukee County. 

 Yet in this limited state-range Mr. Monroe has shown a striking 

 new color form: 

 /^ _ Aster prenanthoides Muhl., f. milwaukeensis f. nov., ligulae 

 albae; forma rara et ut videtur localis. — WISCONSIN: Lake 

 Woods, Milwaukee County, Sept. 10, 1904, Monroe 3908 

 (TYPE, Milwaukee Public Museum). 



Rays pure white, the form rare and apparently local. '^ 

 "^ In his collection is also found a pure white-rayed sample of 

 A. puniceus L., f. alhiflorus Farwell, Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan 

 County, Sept. 21, 1902, no. 3936 — his field-notes state: "Rays 

 glistening white." 



A. umbellatus Mill., var. pubens Gray is rare in Wisconsin, 

 though the species is quite common. The well defined specimens 

 are: Nekoosa, Wood County, Sept. 14, 1912, Benke 4016; 

 Saltenberger Lake, Vilas County, Aug. 19, 1915, Milwaukee 

 Science Club, mus. no. 32318; Kinnickinic, St. Croix County, 

 Sept. 8, 1923, A. M. Fuller mus. no. 68718. Mr. Fuller's speci- 

 men has much wider leaves than the other two, it should be 

 noted, leading to the var. latifolius Gray, of which it might be- 

 come a forma on further study. 



A. linariifolius is rare in the state, Mr. Monroe having col- 

 lected but a single specimen. It is: Kilbourn, Adams County, 

 Sept. 3, 1905, no. 4121. Other collectors, too, found it but rarely, 

 as Busseyville, Jefiferson County, 1850-1860, T. Kumlien (Kum- 

 lein?) mus. no. 425; (locality not given), Jefferson County, 

 Sept. 24, 1892, John W. Dunlap, mus. no. 9305; and Baraboo, 

 Sauk County, Sept. 13, 1912, Chas. Goessl mus. no. 30416. 



Hybridism, which makes determination difficult at times, 

 does not occur as often as some may believe. It is more likely 

 that extreme forms of leaf, inflorescence, pubescence and other 

 taxonomic factors in related species that may almost merge, 

 should be regarded as either varieties or formas, depending on 

 the view-point of the taxonomist, rather than as hybrids. During 



12 Another specimen is Lake Woods, Milwaukee County, Oct. 10, 1903, 

 no. 405 given me by way of exchange (Feb. 13, 1913), now in Field Mus. of 

 Nat. Hist. Chicago. 



