THE. GENUS -ASTER. 



5 



interest in the Society, and to be made the basis of discussion 

 regarding certain practical aspects of the subject. 



The present communication will be confined to a consideration 

 of those American species of the genus Aster which can be 

 regarded as promising subjects for improvement and cultivation. 

 It is an interesting fact that some of the American species in 

 this genus are known to science chiefly through descriptions of 

 their cultivated forms. For instance, Dr. Asa Gray says Aster 

 versicolor, Willd., is " common in European gardens, doubtless 

 from Atlantic North America, but decisive indigenous specimens 

 are hardly known." (Gray, " Synopt. Flora," vol. ii., p. 194.) 

 Aster patuliis, Lam., " chiefly known in cultivation," is another 

 -case in point, as are also the following : Aster cliff usus, Ait., var. 

 horizoutalis, "a plant of the gardens, not exactly matched by 

 indigenous specimens," and Aster Novi-Belgii, L., var. Icevigatus, 

 of which it is said that there are " hardly any wild specimens 

 exact]} 7 answering to the plant cultivated and even naturalized 

 in Europe." Aster Xovi-Bclgii, L., var. liioreus, has been 

 known in European gardens from early times, under different 

 names, all of the descriptions upon which the synonyms were 

 based being from cultivated plants. Examination of these and 

 other similar cases shows that confusion has arisen from the 

 changes which the plants undergo from even the slight degree 

 of cultivation associated with raising them from seed in a 

 garden. In many, if not most, of the cases there has been an 

 improvement in those features which most commend themselves 

 to horticulturists, and in a few instances the plants may be 

 reckoned among established favourites. 



It seems highly probable that this list might be considerably 

 increased. 



In reviewing the American species which may be available 

 for horticultural purposes, we are fortunate in possessing an 

 admirable monograph by the great botanist, the late Asa Gray, 

 of Harvard College, in which the morphological and geographical 

 relations of the constituents of the genus are clearly set forth. It 

 is the design of this communication to make an analysis of Dr. 

 Asa Gray's monograph which may be somewhat helpful to 

 horticulturists. If this brief sketch can aid in making our 

 beautiful American species better known to European cultivators, 

 the writer will feel that he has, in part, discharged the obligation 



