ASTER patens.
Spreading Jiairg-staWd Starwort.
Natural Order. C oM P O S lT A l . Adansonfam. 2. 103.
Sect. I I . CARDUACEM.— O iv . 6. Asterea. Kunth. syn. 2. p. 399.
A S T E R . Involucrum subhemisph®ncum, polyphyllum, imbri-
catum; foliolis inferioribus s®pius patulis. Receptaculum planius-
culuni, punctato-scrobiculatum. Flosculi disci creberrimi, tubulosi,
hermaphroditi; radii ligulati, feminei, smpissime plures quam decern.
Pappus pilosus, sessilis. Frútices, suffrutices aut sapius her-
b®: ramis foliisque alternis ; floribus sapissime panicuiatis aut corymbose,
rarius solitariis; radiis violaceis, purpureis aut albidis.
Kunth. syn. 2. p. 400.
A. patens, caule ramoso hirto ; ramis patentibus paucifloris micro-
phyllis, foliis radicalibus petiolatis ovatis obtusis subcrenatis ;
caulinis integerrimis oblougo-lanceolatis ovatisque ciliatis cordatis
amplexicaulibus reticulato-venosis utrinque scabris pilosis, foliolis
involucri imbricatis lanceolatis patulis.
Aster patens. Willden. sp.pl. 3. p. 2034. Pers. syn. 2. p. 444. Hort.
Kew. ed. 2. v. 5. p. 56. Pursh.ß . amer. sept. 2. p. 551. Spreng.
syst. 3. p . 529.
Stem suffrutescent at the base, from 18 inches to S feet
in height, more or less branched, thickly clothed with short
rigid hairs, terminated in a spreading panicle of flowers.
Leaves at the root petiolate, ovate, obtuse, more or less
notched, inclining to glaucous, not so rough as the stem
ones, reticulately veined underneath, fringed with short
hairs: stem ones entire, oblongly lanceolate or ovate, acute,
clasping the stem, cordate, and rounded at the base, ciliate,
reticulately veined, very rough and hairy on both sides, of
a darker green than those at the root; those on the lower
part of the flower stems shorter and broader in proportion,
the upper ones very small and narrow. Flower stems
slender, more or less branched, hairy, generally terminated
with a single flower. Involucrum oblong, or between
I i 2
Wedd-eU'-ft-^
It.