COMPOSITE FAMILY 



COMPOSITE COMPOSITE FAMILY 



Aster patens, Ait. 



Light violet-purple Late Purple Aster, 



Purple Daisy, 

 August-October Spreading Aster. 



Aster: for derivation see concolor. 

 Patens: Latin denoting open. 



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



THE PLANT: erect, one foot to three feet high; the stem 

 slender, rough. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceo- 

 late; rough or with short, soft hairs; those of the branches 

 much smaller and bract-like; acute at the apex; or the 

 lowest obtuse; strongly heart-shaped or ear-shaped, and 

 clasping at the broad base: entire; the margins rough. 



THE FLOWERS: in heads; solitary at the ends of the 

 branches; the bracts of the involucre with short, soft or 

 somewhat dry hairs and green acute tips. Rays twenty to 

 thirty. 



THE FRUITS: achenes; pappus tawny. 



A pretty purple Aster of the dry, sandy soil of the 

 Commons, that somewhat resembles the undulatus, but 

 is to be distinguished from it as well as from other Asters 

 by the leaf, heart-shaped and clasping at the; base. 



COMPOSITES COMPOSITE FAMILY 



Aster spectabilis, Ait. 



Violet Showy Aster. 



August-October 



Aster: for derivation see concolor. 

 Spectabilis: Latin for showy. 



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