shorter, the innermost about the length of the disk), acute or rather obtuse ;
rays short, and often inconspicuous.—Linn. spec. 2. p. 887? (excl. syn.
Dill. Elth. t. 35, ƒ. 39.)* A. miser, divergens, diffusus, & pendulus, Ait.
JCew. \ed. 1) 3. p . 205, and of most, if not all, succeeding authors.
a. misernmus: stem and elliptical-lanceolate or cuneiform-lanceolate leaves
more or less scabrous or pubescent; the flowering branches short, seldom
divergent; scales of the involucre narrowly linear or linear-lanceolate, acute.
—A. miser (excl. y.), Nees! Ast. p. 111. A. miser, var. Nutt.! herb. A.
myrtifolius, Willd. enum. suppl. fide, Nees.—The following are the chief
variations: 1. Stem somewhat simple, puberulent-scabrous, as well as the
leaves ; heads glomerate or somewhat spicate on short racemed branchlets,
which are often shorter, or sometimes longer than the leaves; in the latter
case usually leafy.—2. Scabrous-puberulent; the flowering branches usually
longer than the upper cauline leaves, bearing few or solitary heads. (A.
miser, Nees! in herb. Hook, ex dono Lindl.)—3. Leaves scabrous above,
the lower surface and the stem or branches softly cinereous-pubescent; heads
somewhat secund and spicate on the (abbreviated or sometimes elongated)
ascending flowering branchlets. (A. miser, var. Nees.! in herb. Am . &■
Hook. Jacksonville, Louisiana, Drummond!) ,
/?. glomerellus: mostly cinereous-pubescent or scabrous; leaves oblong-
lanceolate, elliptical-lanceolate, or cuneiform-oblong, scabrous above, mostly
short; heads glomerate-spicate at the summit of the stem or on divergent
branches; scales of the involucre linear, obtusish or abruptly acute.__
Varies : 1. Stem low ( 6 - 1 8 inches high), rigid, simple or with ascending
branches; heads glomerate in short spikes at the summit of the stem or
branches, and in the axils of the upper leaves, or on short spreading flower-
mg branchlets; scales of the involucre rather broadly or spatulate-linear;
the innermost sometimes narrower and more acute. (A. miser, Nutt. ' sen
2. jp . 1 5 8 ; Darlingt.! fl. Cest. p. 4 6 6 . )— 2 . Plant taller, less pubescent;’
heads (rather smaller) more loosely spicate along the slender or virgate divaricate
branches; or the lower flowering branches somewhat compound. (A.
diffusus, Muhl.! in herb. E l l . ; Nees, Ast. (partly,) and in herb. Am . &•
Hook.! St. Louis, Drummond!) n
y. diffusus : stem pubescent, or glabrous below, much branched ; leaves
nearly glabrous (mostly slightly scabrous above, sometimes sparsely pubescent
beneath), lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, or the lowermost often oblong-
oval; branches diffuse, mostly elongated, divergent, recurved-spreading or
divaricate; heads loosely or densely racemose; scales of the involucre
linear, acute or acutish.—A. diffusus (partly ?), divergens, pendulus, &c par-
viflorus, Nees, Ast. 1. c .; DC. 1. c. A. divergens, Nu tt.! 1. c. A. parvi-
florus, Darlingt.! fl. Cest. p . 466. A. secundiflorus, & A. horizontalis,
Desf. cat. hort. Par.—Varies in the disposition and length of the branches,
in the number (and slightly in the size) of the heads, the size and breadth of
the leaves, &c.: but the different forms are so connected that they are not
clearly distinguishable into definite subvarieties. The cauline leaves vary
from elongated lanceolate (3—5 inches, or in some specimens from Kentucky
and Wisconsin even 6 inches long,) or the lowermost even broadly oval, to
cuneiform-lanceolate, oval-lanceolate (2-3 inches long); the more or less
* There are, if we mistake not, no specimens of A. miser in the Linntean herbarium;
and the description of Linnceus appears to have been drawn chiefly (but
not entirely) from the ‘Aster ericoides, Meliloti agrariae umbone,’ Dill. EUh. (A.
foliolosus, Ait. q. v.) It is evident, however, from the phrase: “ Radius albus brevis-
simus et miser,” that Linnaeus had some other than the Dillenian plant in view
probably some form of the polymorphous species to which the name of A. miser
has generally been applied by succeeding botanists; but this is by no means
certain. 1
elongated primary branches are ascending or mostly divergent; the heads
usually disposed along them on short pedicels, so as to form elongated leafy
racemes, sometimes forming small glomerules, sometimes very numerous
in spiciform divaricate racemes, or frequently more loose and somewhat
paniculate, &e. Some of the narrow-leaved forms, with the midrib pubescent
or hirsute beneath, pass into the following :
d. hirsuticaulis: stem and midrib of the narrowly lanceolate elongated
leaves more or less hirsute; heads racemose or spicate on short spreading or
divergent branchlets; the uppermost in axillary glomerules much shorter
than the leaves; scales of the involucre very narrowly linear, acute.—
Varies: 1. Leaves nearly entire, but some of them remotely and very
sharply serrate (4-5 inches long, attenuate-acuminate); the midrib very
hirsute beneath; heads few, in racemes much shorter than the leaves. (A.
hirsuticaulis, Lindl. ! in DC. prodr. 5. p. 242, ex herb. Torr. Albany,
New York, Beck!)—2. Stem sparingly hirsute-pubescent; the midrib of the
(mostly entire) leaves glabrous or nearly so ; heads few and glomerate on
branchlets usually much shorter than the leaves; the uppermost in small
sessile glomerules; otherwise as in no. 1. (Bellows Falls, Vermont, Mr.
Carey!)—3. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, attenuate-acuminate (3—4 inches
long), mostly serrate with sharp scattered teeth ; the midrib beneath and
stem hirsute ; heads in short recurved-spreading somewhat leafy spikes; the
upper in sessile glomerules. (Wayne County, New York, Dr. Sartwell!)
Old fields, borders of thickets &c., Canada! and throughout the United
States! common. Aug.-Oct.—A polymorphous species, 10 inches to 3 feet
high, erect or diffuse, often beginning to flower when nearly simple, but at
length usually much branched, varying greatly according to soil, situation,
and age. Heads small, often very numerous; the involucre nearly glabrous,
the scales with short green tips. Rays white or tinged with purple, short, often
inconspicuous : the corolla of the disk often turning purple ; the limb deeply
5-parted. Achenia minutely pubescent.—This is the most polymorphous
species of the genus. It would be easy to arrange its most remarkable
forms as distinct species, but perfectly impossible to characterize them.
Even our var. diffusus might thus be divided into a dozen species of equal
consequence with those admitted by later authors. Its most striking states
are, 1. a Western plant with lower leaves six inches long, and the heads
also larger than usual: 2. a form which we have only received from N.
Carolina, with nearly simple stems and inflorescence, and small broadly
oval, or cuneiform-oblong leaves: the latter is sometimes called A. Cornuti.
49. A . Lamarckianus (Nees) : stem pubescent in lines, racemose-decompound,
coarctate; the branches paniculate-racemose; leaves lanceolate,
acuminate, sessile, appressed-serrate, scabrous above ; those of the branch-
lets lanceolate-acuminate, spreading; scales of the involucre linear, rather
equal, loosely imbricated. Nees, Ast. p. 100 ; Lin d l.! in Hook. fl. Bor.-
Am. 2. p. 11 ; DC. prodr. 5. p. 241. A. paniculatus, Lam. diet. 1. p. 306
(not of Ait.), fide Nees. A. Tradescanti, Nees, synops. p . 28. A. par-
viflorus, Lindl. in Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. c. 1
Canada, according to Lamarck, Nees. Saskatchawan, Richardson!
Drummond! (v. sp. in herb. Hook.)—According to Nees, this species is
quite different from any with which he is acquainted, except his A. divergens.
The plant from Saskatchawan appears nearly to agree with an immature specimen
of the species cultivated in the Berlin botanic garden, under this name.
t t Heads middle-sized.
50. A. simplex (Willd.): stem glabrous, racemose-decompound; the
branches somewhat corymbose at the summit; the branchlets contracted,
bearing few [middle-sized] heads; leaves lanceolate, acuminate, very smooth,