230 



COMPOSITE. (COMPOSITE FAMILY.) 



the uppermost taper-pointed, and also tapering below into a narrowed base or winged 

 petiole ; heads small (less than %' long, exclusive of the narrow rays) ; involucre 

 between bell-shaped and top-shaped ; the scales obscurely glandular, linear, or the 

 short outer ones oblong, Avith greenish appressed tips ; achenia linear, slightly 

 pubescent. — Borders of oak woods, in rather moist soil, New Bedford, Mass., 

 E. W. Hervty. Sept. — An ambiguous member, and the smallest-flowered, of 

 the section. Pappus whitish, tiner than that of the preceding. 



§ 3. ASTER, proper. Scales of the involucre imbricated in various degrees, with 

 herbaceous or leaf-like summits, or the outer ones entirely foliaceous : rays numer- 

 ous: pappus soft and nearly uniform : achenia flattemd. (All flowering late 

 in summer or in autumn.) 



* Leaves whitened, silvery-silky both sides, all sessile and entire, mucronulate: involu- 



te imbricated in 3 to several tows: rays showy, purple-violet. 



7. A. Sericeus, Vent. Stems slender, branched ; leaves silver-white, lance- 

 olate or oblong ; heads mostly solitary, terminating the short branchlets ; scales of 

 the globular involucre similar to the leaves, spreading, except the short coriaceous 

 base ; achenia smooth, many-ribbed. — Prairies and dry banks, Wisconsin to 

 Kentucky and southward. — Heads large : rays 20 - 30. 



8. A. COncolor, L. Stems wand-like, nearly simple ; leaves crowded, ob- 

 long or lanceolate, appressed, the upper reduced to little bracts ; heads in a simple 

 or compound wand-like raceme ; scales of the obovoid involucre closely imbricated 

 in several rows, appressed, rather rigid, silky, lanceolate ; achenia silky. — Dry 

 sandy soil, pine barrens of New Jersey and southward. — Plant l°-3° high, 

 with the short leaves 1' or less in length, grayish-silky both sides. 



* * Lower leaves not heart-shaped; the upper all sessile and more or less clasping by 



a heart-shaped or auricled base : heads showy : scales of the. inversely conical or 

 bell-shaped involucre regularly imbricated in several rows, the outer successively 

 shorter, appressed, coriaceous, whitish, with short herbaceous tips: rays large, 

 purple or blue. 



9. A. patens, Ait. Rough-pubescent; stem loosely panicled above (l°-3° 

 high), with widely spreading branches, the heads mostly solitary, terminating 

 the slender branchlets ; leaves oblong-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, often contracted 

 below the middle, all clasping by a deep auricled-heart-shaped base, rough, especially 

 above and on the margins, entire ; scales of the minutely roughish involucre with 

 spreading pointed tips ; achenia silky. — Var. phlogif6lius is a form which 

 the plant assumes in shady moist places, with larger and elongated thin scarcely 

 rough leaves, downy underneath, sometimes a little toothed above, mostly much 

 contracted below the middle. —Dry ground: common, especially southward. 

 Heads \' broad, and with showy deep blue-purple rays. 



10. A. lgevis, L. Very smooth throughout ; heads in a close panicle ; leaves 

 thickish, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, chiefly entire, the upper more or less 

 clasping by an auricled or heart-shaped base ; scales of the short-obovoid or hemi- 

 spherical involucre with appressed green points ; rays sky-blue ; achenia smooth. 

 A variable and elegant species, of which the two best-marked forms are : — 



Var. laevigatas. Scarcely if at all glaucous ; leaves lanceolate or oblong ; 

 involucre nearly hemispherical ; the scales lauceolate or linear, with narrow and 



