COMPOSITE FAMILY 



five. Involucre bell-shaped; bracts small, 

 green-tipped, about three rows. Pappus 

 white. 



White Heath Aster is at its best 

 in mid-October. Then it stands in 

 serried ranks along the roadway, 

 often covered with the dust of 

 passing wheels, a little bush twin- 

 kling with tiny stars, the largest the 

 size of a nickel, but the run of the 

 flock much smaller. Each flower- 

 head has twenty to twenty-five 

 white rays and a plump compact 

 yellow centre. 



The stem-leaves are a distinguish- 

 ing character. Beginning as linear 

 about three inches long, pointed at 

 apex and at base, they grow smaller 

 as they ascend the stem, finally becoming simple 

 green lines an inch or less in length. They are, 

 however, abundant enough to clothe both 

 branches and branchlets. As the season ad- 

 vances the bushy top swings upon one bare 



66 



Basal and Stem 

 Leaf of White 

 Heath Aster. 

 Aster ericoides 



