2 0 ) exserted; achenia slightly pubescent.—Ell. ! sic. 2. p. 344; DC. prodr.
5 . p. 247.
Damp soils in the western districts of Georgia, Elliott! Sept.-Oct.—Root
apparently annual. “ Stem 4-6 feet high, erect, very slender, with a few
scattering branches, which near the,summit become corymbose. Lower
leaves 4 to 6 inches long, scarcely exceeding a line in width, very slightly
scabrous along the margin; the upper diminishing in size; those of the
branches linear-lanceolate. Flowers [heads] on the lower branches few, on
the upper in racemes, on peduncles 2 to 4 lines long. Florets of the ray
narrow, twice as long as the involucrum, pale purple; of the disk yellowish.”
Ell.—We have only seen the specimen in Elliott’s herbarium. It is allied
to the preceding, but is a much more strict plant; the broader and less
pointed scales of the involucre more rigid, &c. •
126. A . pauciflorus (Nutt.) : perennial? stem glabrous below, simple,
or racemosely branched above ; the strict branches and the somewhat equal
(linear-lanceolate) scales of the hemispherical involucre densely viscid-
pubescent ; leaves subulate-linear, somewhat fleshy ; the lowermost linear,
3-nerved, tapering into a slender petiole, glabrous; those of the branches
subulate, scattered, somewhat viscid ; rays (15-24) rather short; achenia
narrow, obscurely striate, nearly glabrous.—Nu tt.! gen. 2. p. 154, in
trans. Amer. phil. soc. (n. ser.) 7. p. 292. Tripolium subulatum, Nees, Ast.
p. 167 ; Hook. ! jl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 15 ; Lindl. ! in DC. prodr. 5. p. 254.
Margin of saline springs, near Fort Mandan on the Missouri, Nuttall! to
the Saskatchewan, &c. Drummond! Aug.—Stem 8—20 inches high, rather
rigid, scarcely flexuous; the heads (about as large as in A. angustus) solitary
or nearly so' on the simple or dichotomous branches. Lower leaves 4-6
inches long ; the upper a line wide, partly clasping, tapering to a sharp point,
the margins scarcely if at all scabrous. Scales of the involucre in about 2
series, acute, with scarious margins, rather shorter than the disk, loose.
Rays pale purple, linear-oblong. Pappus capillary, nearly in a single
series. Appendages of the style lanceolate-subulate; the stigmatic portion
narrowed downwards. Achenia beset with a few very minute scattered
hairs. Receptacle slightly alveolate.—This is a somewhat peculiar species,
but it is certainly an Oxytripolium (with which it accords in habit,) rather
than an Alpigenous Aster.
127 ? A. ocddentalis (Nutt, under Tripolium): stem nearly simple, with
few large and corymbose heads; leaves all linear subulate, clasping, here
and there incisely serrate; involucre loosely imbricate; the scales subulate,
subherbaceous, nearly equal; rays as long as the- disk (pale blue) ; achenia
nearly smooth, scarcely striate, compressed. Nutt.—Tripolium (Astro-
polium) occidentale, Nutt.! in trans. Amer. phil. soc. (n. ser.) 7. p. 296.
“ Margins of muddy ponds in the Rocky Mountains, 7000 feet above the
level of the sea.—Root creeping, slender : stem slender, four inches to a foot
high, often only one or two-flowered, seldom more than five or six. Leaves
long and narrow, linear, entire, or with ope or two pairs of deep incise
serratures, almost approaching to a pinnatifid division : branchlets slender,
one-flowered : the flower as large as a daisy, with a simple series of pale
blue or pink rays. An alpine species, approaching the true Tripolium in
the fruit being almost destitute of striation.” Nutt.—This is described by Mr.
Nuttall as a species of his Tripolium § Astropolium (which corresponds with
the Oxytripolia of De Candolle). It seems to us, however, to belong rather
with the Alpigenous Asters, except that the appendages of the style are
lanceolate-subulate. The upper part of the stem and often the margins of
the leaves are a little pubescent; and the rays are much exserted beyond
the disk. The linear-oblong achenia are clothed with a minute appressed
pubescence. The root is probably perennial.
128 ? A. frondosus (Nutt, under Tripolium): stem much branched;
leaves linear, entire, clasping, rather obtuse, heads fastigiate; scales of the
involucre, loose and leafy, rather obtuse; rays numerous, very small and
slender; achenia nearly smooth, about 4-striate. Nutt.1—Tripolium (Astropolium)
frondosum, Nutt. 1 in trans. Amer. phil. soc. (n. ser.) 7. p. 296.
“ Muddy ponds in the Rocky Mountains, near Lewis River of the
Shoshonee; rare: growing partly in the water, and mud. Apparently
biennial, with very inconspicuous flowers, and an entirely leafy nearly equal
involucrum of about 2 series of leaflets.” Nutt.—Our specimens are very
imperfect, and the flowers not fully developed.
129 ? A. spinosus (Benth.): glabrous, much branched; the branches
rush-like, furnished with minute scattered scale-like leaves, which are
somewhat caducous, often bearing spines in their axils ; heads solitary terminating
the branches, or somewhat racemose ; scales of the involucre imbricated
in 2-3 series, unequal, shorter than the disk, lanceolate, with membranaceous
margins; rays short; achenia very glabrous.—Benth. ! pi.
Hartw. (no. 148.) p. 20.
Texas, Drummond!—A singular, apparently leafless species; its long
branches terminated by rather small heads ; the subulate leaves 1 to 2 or 3
lines long; those of the lower part of the stem unknown. Exterior scales of
the involucre ovate-lanceolate; the innermost longer, narrowly lanceolate,
with broader membranaceous margins. Rays numerous in a single series,
nearly twice the length of the pappus; the ligules linear-oblong. Appendages
of the style (of the disk-flowers) short and thick, somewhat conical.
Pappus nearly equal, in a single series, capillary. Achenia linear-oblong,
slightly compressed, obscurely nerved.—The Texan specimens exhibit fewer
short spines, or abortive branchlets, than the Mexican, and some are altogether
destitute of them ; but we find no other difference.
*** The following species reached us too late for insertion in the sections to
which they belong.
§ 2 . C a l l ia s t r u m , p. 1 0 6 .
130. A. mirabilis: pubescent-scabrous; stem simple, sparingly corymbose-
paniculate at the summit; leaves ovate, strigose-scabrous above ; the lowest
(and radical?) abruptly narrowed into a petiole; the others sessile, rather
acute; those of the branches small, roundish; involucre hemispherical,
shorter than the disk ; the scales regularly imbricated in 4-5 unequal series,
oblong-linear, with conspicuous squarrose-recurved obtuse herbaceous tips ;
rays (about 20) elongated ; achenia linear, scarcely compressed, nearly glabrous
(minutely hairy under a lens when young), striate.
Columbia, South Carolina (probably in dry soil), Professor Gibbes! Sept.
—Stem 1-2 feet or more in height, apparently simple, clothed with a close
and rather rough pubescence, which is scarcely if at all viscid, sparingly
branched towards the summit; the branches bearing solitary or 2-3 scattered
heads, or sometimes 4 or 5 heads, somewhat crowded at the summit. Leaves
thickish when old, rather strongly pinnately veined and more or less reticulated,
all serrate from the base to the apex with close and short mucronate
teeth; the lower surface less scabrous and more pubescent than the upper,
often somewhat hoary; the cauline 1-3 inches long, uniformly ovate, but
the upper gradually diminishing in size, all but the lowermost closely sessile,
not clasping; those of the branches similar but much smaller, obtuse,
and nearly round ; the lowest cauline abruptly narrowed into a margined
petiole, or rarely almost cordate ; the proper radical leaves wanting. Heads
nearly as large as in A. spectabilis, subglobose. Involucre minutely pubescent
; the scales between chartaceous and coriaceous in texture, whitish,