226 THE COMPOSITE FAMILY. 
purplish or white flowers in terminal corymbs. Receptacles without 
scales. Florets all tubular and equal. Styles much exserted, with 
long thickened or club-shaped branches. Achenes angular or striated, 
with a pappus of simple hairs. 
A vast genus, chiefly American, with a few Asiatic species, one of 
which is also our European one, the only British Composite with 
opposite leaves, and florets not yellow. 
1, E. cannabinum, Linn. (fig. 497). Hemp Agrimony.—Rootstock 
perennial, stems erect, 3 or 4 feet high. Leaves 8 to 5 inches long, 
slightly downy, divided into 3 broadly lanceolate, coarsely toothed 
lobes, sometimes again slightly lobed, a few upper leaves occasionally 
simple and alternate. Flower-heads numerous, in compact terminal 
corymbs, of a pale reddish purple. Involucres cylindrical, of very few 
unequal bracts, and usually containing 5 florets. 
On banks and bushy places near water, throughout Hurope and 
central and Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Extends all 
over Britain. Fl. swmmer. 
IJ. ASTER. ASTER. 
Herbs, usually erect, with alternate, entire or toothed leaves, narrow 
linear in the British species. Flower-heads in terminal corymbs. 
Involucral bracts imbricated in several rows. Outer florets not very 
numerous, forming a purple or white spreading ray, but sometimes 
wanting, those of the disk tubular, 5-toothed and yellow. Branches 
of the style somewhat flattened and pointed. Anthers without tails. 
Achenes flattened with a pappus of many hairs. 
A very numerous North American genus, with a few species spread 
over northern Asia, Europe, and some other parts of the world. Several 
of the North American ones are known among the autumnal plants in 
our flower-gardens under the name of Michaelmas Daisies. Our China 
Asters belong to a nearly allied genus from Eastern Africa. 
Flower-heads usually radiate. Involucral bracts few, oblong . 1. A. Tripolium. 
Flower-heads without rays. Involucral bracts numerous, narrow linear. 
2. A. Linosyris. 
1, A. Tripolium, Linn. (fig. 498). Sea A.--A glabrous perennial, 
seldom above a foot high, erect or decumbent at the base, slightly 
branched. Leaves linear, entire, somewhat succulent. Flower-heads 
in a rather compact corymb, the involucral bracts few and oblong. 
Florets of the ray purplish, numerous or few, and occasionally want- 
ing, those of the disk longer than the involucre; the pappus also 
longer than the involucre. 
Jn salt-marshes, common in Europe and Russian Asia, except the 
extreme north. Extends along the British coasts to the north of 
Scotland. Fl. late in summer or autumn. 
2. A. Linosyris, Bernh. (fig. 499). Goldilocks.—A glabrous erect 
perennial, 6 inches to a foot high, with numerous narrow linear, entire 
leaves, more or less dotted. Flower-heads ina rather compact terminal 
corymb, of a bright yellow, without any rays in this country, which 
had induced older botanists to characterise the plant as a distinct 
genus, but in Germany it has been found occasionally to bear the rays 
of an Aster, Involucres imbricated, with numerous narrow bracts — 
is at ov ) 
[Zupatorium. 
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