December 16, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



505 



tendency to intergrade with both A. paniculatus and A. 

 junceus. 



As the species ordinarily appears it is very slender and 

 from one to four feet in height. The stems are quite 

 glabrous, or pass by gradual transitions to a densely white- 

 villous form, the var. villicaulis, Gray. The leaves are 

 thin and smooth, or rarely thickish and somewhat scab- 

 rous on the margins. They are from three to eight inches 

 long, varying from lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, usually 

 attenuate to the tip, and either tapering gradually to a nar- 

 row sessile base or with a slightly auriculate-clasping 

 insertion. Generally the margins are nearly or quite entire, 

 but occasionally they are sharply serrate. 



The cymose-paniculate inflorescence is leafy, the branches 

 being either short with one or two heads, or elongated and 

 bearing; several heads. The heads, as a rule, are rather 



be distinguished by the fact that in A. Novi-Belgii the inner 

 bracts are of unequal length and somewhat squarrose. 

 Tall forms of A. longifolius without foliaceous bracts may 

 sometimes be confused with A. paniculatus, but the heads 

 of A. longifolius are usually larger, and in pure A. panicu- 

 latus the bracts of the involucre are shorter and imbricated. 

 From A. junceus, too, the plant may best be distinguished 

 by the fact that in A. junceus the involucral bracts are 

 definitely of two or three lengths, as well as by the lower 

 habit, and thicker usually narrower and strongly scabrous 

 leaves of the latter species. 



The specimen from which Mr. Faxon has made the 

 drawing on page 507 was collected at Fort Fairfield, 

 Maine, where, in the thickets and on the gravelly banks of 

 the Aroostook River, the plant appears in great abundance. 



Gray Herbarium, Cambridge, Mass. Merrill L. Feinald. 



Fig. 72 — Dog-tooth Violets on Mount Ranier. — See page 504. 



smaller than in Aster Novi-Belgii, though in some few- 

 flowered specimens they are fully one and a half inches 

 across. The involucre is four or five lines high, composed 

 of loosely one or two seriate approximately equal linear 

 bracts with acute or long-acuminate herbaceous tips, and 

 frequently there is an outer series of lanceolate foliaceous 

 oracts. The rays are from three to seven lines long, vary- 

 ing in color from pure white through pink to deep blue. 



As already suggested, this plant tends to intergrade with 

 at least three species, Aster Novi-Belgii, A. paniculatus and 

 A. junceus. From all these species A. longifolius maybe 

 distinguished by its involucre of loose and essentially equal 

 bracts. Forms with the outer bracts foliaceous, however, 

 strongly simulate A. Novi-Belgii. These may generally 



Cultural Department. 



Mexican Laolias. 



ELLIA ANCEPS and its varieties, L. autumnalis. L. albida, 

 L. Gouldiana, and other forms that bloom during; midwin- 

 ter are particularly useful in this dull season. The flowers of 

 L. anceps alone, if a number of them are grown, make an 

 effective display, especially if a few of the superb white forms 

 are used with the typical form. None of these flowers are of 

 much value for cutting. The stems do not readily absorb 

 water and they fade soon. The flowering plants are, however, 

 useful for decorative purposes, and the flowers last in . 

 condition as long as six weeks in a moderately cool house free 

 from excessive moisture. 



For various reasons these Mexican 1 Irchids have a rather 



