GENUS 31. THISTLE FAMILY. 419 
31. Aster puniceus L. Red-stalk or 
Purple-stem Aster. Fig. 4312. 
Aster puniceus L. Sp. Pl. 875. 1753. 
Stem usually stout, reddish, corymbosely or 
racemosely branched above, hispid with rigid 
hairs to glabrous, 3°-8° high. Leaves lanceolate 
to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, sessile and clasp- 
ing by a broad or narrowed base, sharply serrate, 
or entire, usually very rough above, pubescent on 
the midrib or glabrous beneath, 3-6’ long, 3’-14’ 
wide; heads generally numerous, 1-13’ broad; 
involucre nearly hemispheric, its bracts linear or 
oblong, attenuate, imbricated in about 2 series, 
glabrous or ciliate, green, loose, spreading, nearly 
equal, sometimes broadened; rays 20-40, violet- 
purple or pale (rarely white), 5’-7” long, showy; 
pappus nearly white; achenes pubescent. 
DAD 
WZ 
SX 
In swamps, Newfoundland to Ontario, Manitoba, 
Minnesota, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. 
Races differ in pubescence, leaf-form and leaf-serra- 
tion. Early purple aster. Swan-weed. Cocash. Meadow- 
scabish. July-Nov. 
32. Aster tardiflorus L. Northeastern 
Aster. Fig. 4313. 
Aster ‘ardiflorus L. Sp. Pl. Ed. 2, 1231. 1763. 
Aster patulus Lam. Encycl. 1: 308 1783. 
Stem glabrous, slightly pubescent, or villous, co- 
rymbosely branched near the summit, 1°-3° high. 
Leaves lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, or ovate-lan- 
ceolate, serrate with low teeth, or some of them 
entire, acuminate at the apex, narrowed into a 
slightly clasping base, or the lower into winged 
petioles, glabrous or nearly so on both sides, rough- 
ish-margined, 3-6’ long, 4-10” wide; heads about 
1’ broad, not very numerous, involucre hemispheric, 
its bracts often 6” long, acute, somewhat unequal; 
rays 20-30, violet; pappus nearly white; achenes 
pubescent. 
Along streams, New Brunswick to Pennsylvania. 
Aug.—Oct. 
33. Aster prenanthoides Muhl. Crooked- 
stem Aster. Fig. 4314. 
A. prenanthoides Muhl.; Willd. Sp. Pl. 3: 2046. 1804. 
Aster prenanthoides porrectifolius Porter, Mem. Torr. 
Club 5: 326. 1894. 
Stem glabrous, or pubescent in lines above, 
flexuous, much branched, 1°-2° high. Leaves 
thin, oblong to ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 
sharply and coarsely serrate, scabrous above, gla- 
brous or nearly so beneath, 3’-8’ long, 9’-18” 
wide, acuminate at the apex, abruptly narrowed 
below into a broad margined entire petiole, the 
base auriculate-clasping ; heads usually numerous, 
1’ broad or more; involucre hemispheric, its bracts 
linear, acute, green, spreading, imbricated in 3 or 
4 series, the outer shorter; rays 20-30, violet, 
4”-6” long; pappus tawny; achenes pubescent. 
In moist soil, Massachusetts to Minnesota, Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky and Iowa. Aug.-Oct. . 
Aster schistésus Steele, of West Virginia, is in- . . 
termediate in characters between this species and A. Lowrieanus Porter, and may be a hybrid. 
