CHINA ASTERS 267 
Asters must be classed among the most accommodating 
of plants so far as soil and situation are concerned, but 
they must be selected with care, for some of the species are coarse and 
weedy in their growth. Only the dwarfer kinds should be admitted to 
ordinary beds and borders, the taller sorts being relegated to the 
shrubbery border and the wild-garden. A. alpinus, A. altaicus, and 
A. pyreneus are suitable for rock-work, edging, or beds. A selection of 
the best sorts is most valuable for the supply of cut flowers in late 
autumn, and when planted with judgment they are most effective in the 
garden. Seeds may be sown where the plants are to bloom, or in a seed- 
bed in March; or the plants may be divided in Spring or autumn. Named 
varieties must be propagated by means of cuttings of the young shoots 
planted in sandy soil in a frame or under a bell-glass ; or by division. 
Description of Plate 130. A, Upper branches of Aster Amellus; B, 
Plates 130 to 132. of 4. Nove-Anglie ; C, flower-head of A. Nove-Anglie, 
var. roseus. Fig. 1, a ray-floret enlarged; 2, a disk-floret enlarged. 
Plate 131. A, Flowering shoots of A. versicolor: Fig. 1, section of 
flower-head ; 2, ray-floret ; 3, disk-floret. B, A. formosissimus: Fig. 4, 
section of flower-head ; 5, ray-floret ; 6, disk-floret. 
Plate 132. A, Flowering shoots of A. multiflorus: Fig 1, section of 
flower-head enlarged ; 2, ray-floret ; 3, disk-floret. B, A. turbinellus : 
Fig 4, section of flower-head enlarged ; 5, disk-floret ; 6, ray-floret. 
Culture. 
CHINA ASTERS 
Natural Order Composirx. Genus Callistephus 
CALLISTEPHUS (from Greek, kallistos, most beautiful, and stephane, a 
crown). A genus consisting of only one annual species, from which has 
‘been evolved by selection and inter-crossing all the varieties of China, 
French, and German Asters, upon which the gardener largely depends for 
his late summer and autumn displays. The principal character upon 
which the genus is founded is, an involucre of fringed bracts and a 
double pappus—the “beautiful crown” that surmounts the seed. | 
CALLISTEPHUS CHINENSIS (Chinese). Stems bristly, branched, 2 
B : feet high. Leaves oval, coarsely toothed, the lower ones stalked, the 
upper ones not. Flower-heads rosy lilac, each terminating a separate 
shoot; July. 
Callistephus chinensis is a native of China, introduced 
in 1731; and the first European specimens were raised 
