COMPOSITE FAMILY 



ing season is long, and its starry blossoms light 

 up the leafy ways until the late frosts or early 

 snows finally sweep them away. 



PURPLE DRIFT 



Aster prenanthoides 



Native, perennial. In moist soil of open 



woods and roadsides; violet-blue. 



Stem. — Slightly zigzag from leaf to leaf, hairy though 

 sometimes smooth, much branched, one to three feet 

 high, often stained with red. 



Leaves. — Thin, narrow, oblong to broad ovate-lance- 

 olate, abruptly narrowed below into a broad margined 

 entire petiole of an inch long, with a clasping base, 

 more or less eared; serrate sometimes almost entire, 

 acute or acuminate, variable. 



Flower-heads. — Abundant, pale violet-blue. Rays 

 fifteen to twenty, about half an inch long. Disk-florets 

 pale yellow darkening to reddish purple. Involucre 

 bell-shaped; bracts green-tipped in three or four rows. 



Purple Drift of the roadside In early October, 

 together with Farewell Summer and White Heath 

 Aster make a combination, pale violet with 

 abundant white, most rare and beautiful. When 



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