BLUE AND PURPLE 



The New York aster, A. Novi Belgii (Plate CXLVIIL), is a 

 slender-stemmed, branching plant, usually from one to three feet 

 high, with lance-shaped leaves and violet-flower heads. It is 

 found in swampy places near the coast from August to Octo- 

 ber. Gray calls it *' the commonest late-flowered aster of the 

 Atlantic border, and variable." 



Perhaps the loveliest of all the tribe is the seaside purple 

 aster, A. spectabilis, a low plant with narrowly oblong leaves 

 and large bright heads, the violet-purple ray-flowers of which are 

 nearly an inch long. This grows in sandy soil near the coast 

 and may be found putting forth its royal, daisy-like blossoms 

 into November. 



Great Britain can claim but one native aster, A. Tripolium^ 

 or sea-starwort, as it is called. Many American species are culti- 

 vated in English gardens under the general title of Michaelmas 

 daisies. The starwort of Italy is A. amellus. The Swiss species 

 is A. Alpimwi. 



This beautiful genus, like that of the golden-rod, is one of 

 the peculiar glories of our country. Every autumn these two 

 kinds of flowers clothe our roadsides and meadows with so regal 

 a mantle of purple and gold that we cannot but wonder if the 

 flowers of any other region combine in such a radiant display. 



IRON-WEED. 



[PI. CXLIX 

 l^ernonia Noveboracensis. Composite Family. 



Stem, — Leafy; usually tall. Leaves. — Alternate; somewhat lance-oblong. 

 Flower-heads. — An intense red-purple ; loosely clustered ; composed entirely 

 of tubular flowers. 



Along the roadsides and low meadows near the coast the 

 iron-weed adds its deep purple hues to the color-pageant of late 

 August. By the uninitiated the plant is often mistaken for an 

 aster, but a moment's inspection will discover that the minute 

 flowers which compose each flower-head are all tubular in shape, 

 and that the ray or strap-shaped blossoms which an aster must 



