COMPOSITE 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons. 



THE PLANT: erect, one foot or more high; stems stiff, 

 simple or corymbosely branched above, with short, soft 

 hairs or rough below. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; linear-oblong the basal or lower 

 tones oval; three inches to five inches long, firm, thickish, 

 acute or acutish at the apex, narrowed at the base on 

 slender petioles; the upper sessile, sparingly dentate or 

 entire. 



THE FLOWER HEADS: several or numerous, about one and 

 a half inches broad; involucre nearly hemispheric; its 

 bracts linear-oblong or slightly spatulate, in about five 

 series, the tips green. Rays thirteen to fifteen. 



THE FRUIT: achenes, pappus whitish. 



Brilliancy of violet rays and brightness of yellow centre 

 are the strongest elements in the picture when one recall 

 a patch of these showy Asters, of which the flowers are 

 large and rather heavy in proportion to the height of the 

 stem and the slenderness of the long leaves. 



COMPOSITE COMPOSITE FAMILY 



Aster undulatus, L. 



Pale blue to violet Wavy-leaved Aster, 



Various-leaved Aster 

 September-October Fleabane. 



Aster: for derivation see concolor. 

 Undulatus: Latin denoting borne on a wave. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons. 



THE PLANT: erect, one foot to two and a half feet high; 

 the stem widely branched, stiff, rough and with short, soft 

 hairs. 



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