SUBaSPER, Gray, a rigid scabrous form, with contracted leafy inflorescence, the broad heads usually leafy-bracteate and the broader scales often obtuse. Ill. to Tex.

[=][=] _Heads small or middle-sized, the looser linear scales somewhat equal and erect, and the acute green tips not dilated, the outer often wholly herbaceous._

39. A. junceus, Ait. Slender, 1--3 high, simple with few heads or loosely branching; leaves linear or narrow, 3--5' long, entire or the lower spa.r.s.ely denticulate; heads small (3" high); scales small, narrow, in 2 or 3 rows, the outer more or less shorter; rays light purple, 4--5" long. (A. aestivus, previous ed., mainly.)--Wet meadows and cold bogs, N. Scotia and N. Y. to Mich. and Minn.

40. A. longiflius, Lam. (not of previous ed.) Stem 1--3 high, more or less branched and corymbosely panicled; leaves long-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate (3--7' long), narrowed to both ends, entire or spa.r.s.ely serrulate; heads 4--5" high, the scales nearly equal and usually little imbricated, the outer looser; rays 3--4" long, violet or purplish, rarely whitish.--Low grounds, Lab. and northern N. Eng. to Minn.--Var. VILLICAuLIS, Gray, a low simple form, with few or solitary heads, and the stem and midrib of the leaves densely white-villous beneath. N. Maine, at Fort Kent (_Miss Furbish_).

[=][=][=] _Heads middle-sized; scales in few to several rows, more or less unequal, linear to spatulate, more herbaceous and firmer, the tips often slightly spreading or squarrose._

41. A. Nvi-Belgii, L. Rarely tall; leaves oblong to linear-lanceolate, entire or spa.r.s.ely serrate, the upper partly clasping and often somewhat auriculate; heads 4--5" long; rays bright blue-violet. (A. longifolius, previous ed.)--N. Brunswick to Ill. and Ga. The commonest late-flowered Aster of the Atlantic border, and very variable. The typical form has thin narrowly to oblong-lanceolate leaves, sometimes scabrous above, and linear scales with narrow acute spreading or recurved tips.--Var.

LaeVIGaTUS, Gray, is usually glabrous throughout, the thin leaves mostly oblong-lanceolate, the upper half-clasping by an abrupt base; scales nearly equal, loosely erect, with short acutish tips. N. Eng. and eastward.--Var. LITREUS, Gray, rigid, usually low, very leafy; leaves thickish, usually very smooth, oblong to lanceolate, the upper sometimes auriculate; scales in several loose rows, all but the innermost with broadish obtuse tips, the outer usually spatulate. Salt-marshes and sh.o.r.es, Can. to Ga.--Var. ELDES, Gray, slender, often low and simple; leaves thickish, long, narrowly linear, entire, the uppermost small and bract-like; scales narrow, with short and mostly spreading acutish tips.

Swamps, N. J. to Va.

[++][++] _Cauline leaves conspicuously contracted into a winged-petiole-like base or auriculate-clasping; involucre lax._

42. A. patulus, Lam. Glabrous or subp.u.b.escent, 1--4 high; leaves ovate- or oblong-lanceolate, sharply serrate in the middle, narrowed at both ends, the lower to a winged petiole, none auriculate or only obscurely so; heads loosely panicled, about 4" high; scales unequal, erect or nearly so; rays light purple or white.--N. Brunswick and eastern N. England.

43. A. tardiflrus, L. Glabrous or stem somewhat p.u.b.escent (not hispid), 1--2 high; leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, ac.u.minate, mostly with gradually narrowed and somewhat auricled base; heads often few, corymbose, 4--5" high; scales subequal, the outer foliaceous; rays pale violet.--Lab. to the Ma.s.s. coast and White Mts. Not late-flowering.

44. A. prenanthodes, Muhl. Stem 1--3 high, corymbose-panicled, hairy above in lines; leaves rough above, smooth underneath, ovate-lanceolate, sharply cut-toothed in the middle, conspicuously taper-pointed, and rather abruptly narrowed to a long contracted entire portion, which is abruptly dilated into a conspicuously auricled base; heads mostly 4"

high, on short divergent peduncles; scales narrowly linear, tips recurved spreading; rays light blue.--Borders of streams and rich woods, W. New Eng. to Penn., Iowa, and Wisc.

45. A. puniceus, L. Stem tall and stout 3--7 high, rough-hairy all over or in lines, usually purple below, panicled above; leaves oblong-lanceolate, not narrowed or but slightly so to the auricled base, coa.r.s.ely serrate to sparingly denticulate in the middle, rough above, nearly smooth beneath, pointed; heads 4--6" high, subsessile; scales narrowly linear, acute, loose, equal, in about 2 rows; rays long and showy (lilac-blue, paler in shade).--Low thickets and swamps, very common.--Var. LaeVICAuLIS, Gray; stem mostly green, smooth and naked below, spa.r.s.ely hirsute above, 1--3 high; leaves serrate.--Var.

LUCiDULUS, Gray; the very leafy stems glabrous or sparingly hispidulous; leaves lanceolate, entire or slightly denticulate, glabrous and somewhat shining; heads usually numerous, the scales less loose and less attenuate.

-- 4. DLLINGeRIA. _Pappus manifestly double, the inner of long capillary bristles (some thickened at top), the outer of very short and rigid bristles; scales short, without herbaceous tips; heads small, corymbose or solitary; rays rather few, white; leaves not rigid, veiny._

46. A. umbellatus, Mill. Smooth, leafy to the top (2--7 high); _leaves lanceolate, elongated, taper-pointed_ and tapering at the base (3--6'

long); heads very numerous in compound flat corymbs; involucral scales rather close, obtusish, scarcely longer than the achenes. (Diplopappus umbellatus, _Torr. & Gray_.)--Moist thickets; common, especially northward. Aug.--Var. p.u.b.eNS, Gray; the lower surface of the leaves and the branchlets tomentulose. Upper Mich. to Minn.--Var. LATIFLIUS, Gray; with shorter leaves ovate-lanceolate to ovate, less narrowed or even rounded at base. (D. amygdalinus, _Torr. & Gray_.) Pine barrens, etc., N. J., Penn., and southward.

47. A. infirmus, Michx. Stem slender, often flexuous, 1--3 high, less leafy, bearing few or several heads on divergent peduncles; leaves obovate to ovate or oblong-lanceolate, narrowed at base and ciliate, the midrib hairy beneath; scales more imbricated, thicker and more obtuse; pappus more rigid. (D. cornifolius, _Darl._)--Open woodlands, E. Ma.s.s.

to Tenn., and southward.

-- 5. IaNTHE. _Pappus less distinctly double, the inner of bristles not thickened at top, the outer shorter; scales well imbricated, appressed, without herbaceous tips; rays violet; achenes narrow, villous; leaves numerous, rigid, small, linear, 1-nerved and veinless._

48. A. linariiflius, L. Stems 3--20' high, several from a woody root; heads solitary or terminating simple branches, rather large; leaves about 1' long, rough-margined, pa.s.sing above into the rigid acutish scales. (D. linariifolius, _Hook_.)--Dry soil, common. Sept., Oct. Ray rarely white.

-- 6. ORTHoMERIS. _Pappus simple; scales imbricated, appressed, without herbaceous tips, often scarious-edged or dry. Perennial, as all the preceding._

49. A. ptarmicodes, Torr. & Gray. Smooth or roughish; stems cl.u.s.tered (6--20' high), simple; _leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, rigid_, entire, tapering to the base, 1--3-nerved, with rough margins (2--4' long); _heads small, in a flat corymb_; scales imbricated in 3 or 4 rows, short; _rays white_ (2--4" long).--Dry rocks, W. New Eng. to Minn., along the Great Lakes, and northward. Aug.--Var. LUTeSCENS, Gray; rays small, pale yellow.--N. Ill. to Sask.

50. A. ac.u.minatus, Michx. Somewhat hairy; stem (about 1 high) simple, zigzag, panicled-corymbose at the summit; peduncles slender; _leaves oblong-lanceolate, conspicuously pointed, coa.r.s.ely toothed_ above, wedge-form and entire at the base; involucral scales few and loosely imbricated, linear-lanceolate, pointed, thin (3--5" long); heads few or several; rays 12--18, white, or slightly purple.--Cool rich woods; S.

Lab. to Penn., and southward along the Alleghanies. Aug.--There is a depauperate narrow-leaved variety on the White Mountains. A monstrous form occurs in Maine, having a chaffy receptacle and the flowers turned to tufts of chaffy paleae.

51. A. nemoralis, Ait. Minutely roughish-p.u.b.escent; stem slender, simple or corymbose at the summit, very leafy (1--2 high); _leaves_ small (1--1' long), rather _rigid, lanceolate_, nearly _entire, with revolute margins_; scales of the inversely conical involucre narrowly linear-lanceolate, the outer pa.s.sing into awl-shaped bracts; rays lilac-purple, elongated.--Bogs and swamps, N. J. to Newf. and Hudson's Bay. Sept.

52. A. tenuiflius, L. Very glabrous; stem often zigzag, simple or forked, 6'--2 high; heads rather large, terminal; _leaves few, long-linear, tapering to both ends, rather thick and fleshy, entire_, the upper subulate, pointed; involucre top-shaped, the scales subulate-lanceolate with attenuate acute points; rays large, numerous, pale purple. (A. flexuosus, _Nutt._)--Salt marshes, Ma.s.s. to Fla. Sept.

-- 7. OXYTRIPLIUM. _Involucre as in -- 6; pappus simple, fine and soft; glabrous annuals, bearing numerous small heads and with narrow entire leaves._

53. A. subulatus, Michx. Stem 6--24' high; leaves linear-lanceolate, pointed, flat, on the branches awl-shaped; scales of the oblong involucre linear-awl-shaped, in few rows; rays somewhat in two rows, short, not projecting beyond the disk, more numerous than the disk-flowers, purplish. (A. linifolius, of previous ed.)--Salt marshes on the coast, Maine to Va. Aug.--Oct.

-- 8. CONYZoPSIS. _Scales of the campanulate involucre in 2 or 3 rows, nearly equal, linear, the outer foliaceous and loose; pappus copious, very soft; rays very short or without ligules; low annuals with numerous rather small heads._

54. A. angustus, Torr. & Gray. Branching, 6--20' high, nearly glabrous; leaves linear, entire, more or less short-ciliate; ray-flowers reduced to a tube much shorter than the elongated style.--Minn. to Sask. and westward, spreading east to Chicago, etc. (Siberia.)

26. ERiGERON, L. FLEABANE.

Heads many-flowered, radiate, mostly flat or hemispherical; the narrow rays very numerous, pistillate. Involucral scales narrow, equal and little imbricated, never coriaceous, foliaceous, nor green-tipped.

Receptacle flat or convex, naked. Achenes flattened, usually p.u.b.escent and 2-nerved; pappus a single row of capillary bristles, with minuter ones intermixed, or with a distinct short outer pappus of little bristles or chaffy scales.--Herbs, with entire or toothed and generally sessile leaves, and solitary or corymbed naked-pedunculate heads. Disk yellow; ray white or purple. (Name from ??, _spring_, and ?????, _an old man_, suggested by the h.o.a.riness of some vernal species.)

-- 1. CaeNTUS. _Rays inconspicuous, in several rows, scarcely longer than the pappus; pappus simple; annuals._

1. E. Canadensis, L. (HORSE-WEED. b.u.t.tER-WEED.) Bristly-hairy; _stem erect, wand-like_ (1--5 high); leaves linear, mostly entire, the radical cut-lobed; _heads_ very numerous and small, cylindrical, _panicled_.--Waste places; a common weed, now widely diffused over the world. July--Oct.--Ligule of the ray-flowers much shorter than the tube, white.

2. E. divaricatus, Michx. _Diffuse and dec.u.mbent_ (3'--1 high); leaves linear or awl-shaped, entire; _heads loosely corymbed; rays purple_; otherwise like n. 1.--Ind. to Minn., and southward.

-- 2. TRIMORPHae'A. _Like -- 1, but a series of filiform rayless pistillate flowers within the outer row of ray-flowers; biennial or sometimes perennial._

3. E. acris, L. Hirsute-p.u.b.escent or smoothish; stem erect (10--20'

high); leaves lanceolate or the lower spatulate-oblong, entire; heads several or rather numerous, racemose or at length corymbose, nearly hemispherical (4--5" long), hirsute; rays purplish or bluish, equalling or a little exceeding the copious pappus.--Lower St. Lawrence, across the continent and northward. The var. DRBACHeNSIS, Blytt, more glabrous and with the green involucre nearly or quite naked, occurs on the sh.o.r.es of L. Superior. (Eu.)

-- 3. ERIGERON proper. _Rays elongated (short in a form of n. 5), crowded in one or more rows._

[*] _Annuals (or sometimes biennial), leafy-stemmed and branching; pappus double, the outer a crown of minute scales, the inner of deciduous fragile bristles, usually wanting in the ray._

4. E. annuus, Pers. (DAISY FLEABANE. SWEET SCABIOUS.) Stem stout (3--5 high), branched, _beset with spreading hairs; leaves coa.r.s.ely and sharply toothed; the lowest ovate_, tapering into a margined petiole, the upper ovate-lanceolate, acute and entire at both ends; heads corymbed; rays white, tinged with purple, not twice the length of the bristly involucre.--Fields and waste places; a very common weed.

June--Aug. (Nat. in Eu.)

5. E. strigsus, Muhl. (DAISY FLEABANE.) Stem panicled-corymbose at the summit, _roughish_ like the leaves _with minute appressed hairs, or almost smooth; leaves entire_ or nearly so, the upper _lanceolate_, scattered, the lowest oblong or spatulate, tapering into a slender petiole; rays white, twice the length of the minutely hairy involucre.--Fields, etc., common. June--Aug.--Stem smaller and more simple than the last, with smaller heads but longer rays. A form with the rays minute, scarcely exceeding the involucre, occurs in S. New England.

[*][*] _Leafy-stemmed perennials; pappus simple (double in n. 6)._

6. E. glabellus, Nutt. Stem (6--15' high) stout, hairy above, the leafless summit bearing 1--7 large heads; leaves nearly glabrous, except the margins, entire, the upper oblong-lanceolate and pointed, closely sessile or partly clasping, the lower spatulate and petioled; rays (more than 100, purple) more than twice the length of the h.o.a.ry-hispid involucre; pappus double, the outer of minute bristles.--Plains of N. Wisc., and westward. June.

7. E. hyssopiflius, Michx. Slightly p.u.b.escent, slender (6--12' high), from filiform rootstocks; leaves short, very numerous, narrowly linear; branches prolonged into slender naked peduncles, bearing solitary small heads; rays 20--30, rose-purple or whitish. (Aster graminifolius, _Pursh._)--Northern borders of N. Eng., L. Superior, and northward.

8. E. bellidiflius, Muhl. (ROBIN'S PLANTAIN.) Hairy, _producing offsets from the base; stem simple, rather naked above_, bearing few (1--9) large heads on slender peduncles; root-leaves obovate and spatulate, sparingly toothed, the cauline distant, lanceolate-oblong, partly clasping, entire; _rays (about 50) rather broad, light bluish-purple._--Copses and moist banks; common. May.

9. E. Philadelphicus, L. (COMMON FLEABANE.) Hairy; _stem leafy_, corymbed, bearing several small heads; leaves thin, with a broad midrib, oblong; the upper smoothish, clasping by a heart-shaped base, mostly entire, the lowest spatulate, toothed; _rays innumerable and very narrow, rose-purple_ or flesh-color.--Moist ground; common. June--Aug.

[*][*][*] _Perennial by rosulate offsets, with scape-like stems; pappus simple._

10. E. nudicaulis, Michx. Glabrous; leaves cl.u.s.tered at the root, oval or spatulate; scape leafless, slender (1--2 high), bearing 5--12 small corymbed heads; rays white. (E. vernum, _Torr. & Gray_).--Low grounds, E. Va. and southward. May.

27. BaCCHARIS, L. GROUNDSEL-TREE.