dens, not exactly matched by indigenous specimens, but evidently of this species." He gave the synonyms as A. horizontalis Desf. and A. recurvatus Willd., the latter described by German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1803.:?2047? American botanist Oliver Atkins Farwell placed Aster horizontalis Desf. as a variety of A. lateriflorus (L.) Britton, describing it in 1895 as "a tall plant with long straggling horizontal branches.":?21? In 1898, Burgess demoted A. pendulus Aiton to a variety of Aster lateriflorus.:?380? Finally, Nesom created Symphyotrichum lateriflorum var. horizontale when he moved the varieties to genus Symphyotrichum.:?285? Its taxonomic synonyms are listed as Aster horizontalis Desf., A. diffusus var. horizontalis (Desf.) A.Gray, A. lateriflorus var. horizontalis (Desf.) Farw., and A. lateriflorus var. pendulus (Aiton) E.S.Burgess. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) presents an Award of Garden Merit as a "seal of approval that the plant performs reliably in the garden." This variety is cultivated and marketed as an ornamental garden plant in Europe and gained this award in 1993. Variety spatelliforme refer to caption Holotype of Aster spatelliformis E.S.Burgess, from J.K.Small Herbarium, now in the NYBG Steere Herbarium Symphyotrichum lateriflorum var. spatelliforme (E.S.Burgess) G.L.Nesom was described by Burgess in 1903 as species Aster spatelliformis, making it the basionym of this variety. Burgess' protologue primarily focused on leaf characteristics which he said were how it differed from A. lateriflorus. Leaves were described, in part, as small, rounded, and spatulate-shaped, with fine, reticulate veins and a short wedge-shaped base.:?1225? In 1984, Almut Gitter Jones demoted Aster spatelliformis to a variety of A. lateriflorus.:?379? Note that it was in 1982 that Löve and Löve began moving species to the genus Symphyotrichum.:?358–359? Two years bef