the upper scabrous ; heads on short and rather rigid spreading peduncles ;
scales of the obovoid involucre narrowly linear, acute or acuminate, unequal,
imbricated in 3 or 4 series, with recurved-spreading herbaceous summits.—
Muhl. ! in Willd. spec. 3. p. 2046; Pert. syn. 2. p. 446 ; Nees, Ast. p. 61;
Darlingl. ! fl. Cest. p. 465 ; DC. prodr. 5. p. 234.
/?. scaber: stem sparsely roughish-hirsute, or even hispid above; leaves
less conspicuously attenuate towards the base, the upper surface very
scabrous. J
Moist woods and thickets, "Western New York! Pennsylvania! Ohio!
Kentucky! and probably throughout the Alleghany Mountains. /?. West-
Chester, Pennsylvania, Darlington, Mr. Townsend! (in herb. Hook.) Sept.
—Nov. Stem 1—4 feet high, angled, rather stout, usually pubescent only in
decurrent lines, or entirely glabrous below, bearing few or numerous pretty
large heads, in a terminal loose and expanding, simple or compound, or somewhat
paniculate corymb. Leaves of a membranaceous rather firm texture,
veiny, lively green above, pale beneath, and frequently a little hairy along
the midrib ; the lower cauline 5—6, or even 8—10, inches long, the attenuate
lower portion 2—3 inches long, entire, not ciliate, more or less dilated and
auriculate-eordate at the insertion ; the uppermost, and those of the branches
smaller, and less narrowed below, less serrate, but otherwise similar; those
of the branchlets often linear and entire. Involucre glabrous, or minutely
pubescent ^ under a lens. Kays rather large, pale violet, or in deep shade
nearly white; the disk turning purplish. Achenia narrow, slightly cunei-
form, a little narrowed at the summit, contracted at the base as if somewhat
stipitate, scabrous-pubescent. Pappus unequal.—A very marked species,
imperfectly characterized by Willdenow, but accurately described by Nees
from dried specimens. It has never found its way into the gardens, and
appears to be known to few botanists ; yet, it is not uncommon within the
geographical range we have given. Distinct as the species certainly is, the
var. ft. (as Dr. Darlington has noticed), makes a near approach to A. puniceus,
and appears like a hybrid between the two.
65. A. mutatus: stem hairy, racemose-corymbose; the branches simple,
fastigiate, glandular-pubescent at the summit, terminated by single heads;
leaves (membranaceous) lanceolate, very acute, slightly and remotely serrate,
pubescent both sides, partly clasping, the upper clasping by a broad base ;
scales of the hemispherical involucre narrowly linear-lanceolate, very acute,
foliaceous, loose, nearly in a single series, as long as the disk ; rays numerous.—
A. Unalaschkensis /3. ? major, Hook. ! fl. Bar.-Am. 2. p. 7.
_ Saskatchawan to the Rocky Mountains, Drummond !—Stem about 2 feet
high, pubescent with loose spreading hairs; the branches slender, erect.
Leaves very thin, 3-4 inches long, tapering to a sharp point; those of the
branches smaller but similar, broader at the base and more clasping. Heads
about as large as in A. puniceus; the scales of the almost simple involucre
somewhat pubescent, loose or spreading. Rays (blue or pale purple ?) about
30, rather narrow, much longer than the disk. Appendages of the style lanceolate.
Achenia (immature) compressed, ribbed, minutely pubescent with
scattered appressed hairs.—This plant has the involucre of an Alpigenous
Aster, but the receptacle is alveolate, &c.
* * * * * * * * * * * Heads (Jorge and, showy) terminating the corymbose or paniculate
branches: scales of the involucre mmerous, in 2-several series, somewhat equal;
the short rather rigid base appressed; the elongated foliaceous upper portion spreading
or squarrose■ achenia villous or canescent, rarely glabrous: pappus slightly rigid:
rays numerous, pwrple err violet: leaves lanceolate or linear-oblong, mostly entire
sessile, often partly clasping: branchlets and involucre often glandular, viscid, or
granular- pubervlent.—Grandiflori.
A s t e r . COMPOSITÆ. 143
t Scales of the involucre imbricated, with squarrose-reflexed foliaceous summits.
66. A. grandiflorus (Linn.): hispid with sharp rough hairs; stem stout,
racetnosely branched or compound ; leaves linear-spatulate, obtuse, mucro-
nulate, closely sessile, reflexed or recurved, very rough, numerous ; those of
the branches small, oblong-linear or lanceolate ; heads (very large) solitary,
terminating the branches ; scales of the involucre similar to the uppermost
leaves, imbricated in several series, the summits squarrose-reflexed; achenia
strigose-hirsute— Linn. spec. 2. p. 877; (Gronov.! fl. Virg. ed. 1. p. 99 ; Mill,
ic. t. 282 ;) Hoffm. phytogr. bl. p. 65, t. A, f . 1 ; Michx.! fl. 2. p. I l l ;
Pursh, fl. 2. p. 550; Ell. sk. 2. p. 344 ; Lindl. bot. reg. t. 273 ; Nees, Ast.
p. 50 ; DC.!prodr. 5 .p. 232. A. grandiflorus asper, squamis reflexis, Dill.
Elth. t. 36, ƒ. 41. A. asperrimus, Nutt.! in trans. Amer.phil. soc. (n. ser.)
7. p. 293.
Dry soil, in the mountains and upper country of Virginia! North Carolina
! and Georgia! apparently not common; cultivated for more than a century
in European gardens. Sept.-Nov.—Stem and branches rigid. Leaves
very small in proportion to the heads ; the lower 1-2 inches, those of the
branches often less than half an inch in length, thickish, somewhat papillose,
and hispid with very sharp rigid hairs. Heads of the cultivated plant perhaps
the largest of the genus ; in indigenous specimens frequently not larger
than in A. spectabilis, slightly viscid. Scales of the involucre much more
numerous in the cultivated than in the indigenous plant, and with longer and
narrower squarrose foliaceous appendages, slightly viscid ; the chartaceous
base appressed. Rays large, violet— In habit, the wild plant approaches
the section Calliastrum.
67. A. Carolinianus (Walt.): minutely or canescentlypubescent; stem suf-
frutescent, much branched, diffuse or decumbent, flexuous; the heads somewhat
racemose or scattered; leaves oblong-lanceolate, entire (or serrate on
the sterile branches), attenuate to each end, very Sharply acuminate, the
narrowed base abruptly dilated and puriculate-clasping at the insertion;
scales of the involucre linear, canescent, imbricated in several series, unequal,
with short foliaceous squarrose-reflexed tips; achenia narrow, ribbed,
glabrous.— Walt. Car. p. 208 ; Michx.! fl. 2. p. I l l ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 550 ;
Nutt. / gen. 2.p. 156; E ll.! sk. 2.p. 353; Nees, A st.p . 48; DC.! prodr.
5. p. 232. A. scandens, Jacq. ƒ., in Spreng. syst. 3. p. 524.
In swamps and moist thickets, South Carolina ! to Georgia! and Florida !
Sept.-Oct.—Stem often trailing or supported by other plants, and attaining
the height of 8 to 12 feet, very pubescent when young, not viscid nor glandular
; the showy heads (as large as in A. patens) mostly solitary on short
branchlets or peduncles, scattered. Leaves 1 to 3 inches long, clothed with
a minufe and close soft pubescence, or nearly canescent when young, or the
upper surface slightly scabrous when old, produced to a very sharp acuminate
point; the lowermost narrowed towards the base, as if petioled, but dilated
at the insertion. Scales of the involucre rather rigid, not glandular or viscid
appressed except the squarrose tips; the exterior shorter and with the short
tips slightly dilated ; the interior narrowly linear, as long as the disk. Rays
bright purple (Ell-), or often purplish rose-color, numerous; the disk turning
purplish. Achenia linear, 10-ribbed, slightly puberulent when young, but
perfectly glabrous whep mature. Pappus turning reddish-brown.—The
leaves of the young sterile branches are sometimes coarsely toothed. .
68. A. oblongifolius (Nutt.): stem much branched, diffuse or divaricate,
somewhat hairy ; the branchlets loose, paniculate-corymbose, and with the
involucre and uppermost leaves more or less glandular or granular-scabrous •
leaves narrowly oblong or lanceolate, mucronulate-acuminate, entire, partly
clasping, somewhat scabrous; scales of the involucre numerous, broadly
linehr, somewhat unequal, appressed at the base, with elongated and squar