NEW ENGLAND ASTER (Purple Aster) 

 Aster novae-angliae L. 



September -October Wlicn the deep pui-ple blossoms of New England 

 Roadsides, ditches luster blossom along the roads, then we know that 



autumn is ripening to that point which calls a 

 halt to now flowers. Tins is the last and its color is ])orha])s a deeper hue 

 than any other purple llower since the violets bloonuHl. Xow in Septem- 

 ber and October, until heavy frosts, the New England asters grace the 

 countiyside. 



Canada goldenrnd and Xow England aster are the ]iair which usually 

 are meant by poets and other writers when they speak of the llowers of 

 autumn. There are many asters and many goldenrods but of them all 

 these two are perhaps most gorgeous and most typical of both tribes. 

 In themselvos alono. th(\v embody autumn. TIere in concise and brilliant 

 form and color, autumn ])aints the landsiape and leads up to the climax 

 of color on the oaks. 



New England aster has t<ill leafy stalks which bend, wandlike, in 

 all directions from the root. The stalks are two to six feet tall, densely 

 downy-hairy, set with short, sessile leaves. Only the upper part of the 

 stalk branches. Up there it sends forth many short, thin stems on which 

 are flowers which may vary in color from rich l)luo-pur]ile through the 

 re<l-purples, to ])ink and white, though the latter is rarest. Xow England 

 aster has been taken into the gardens and has been developed somewhat 

 to fonn new and acct^ptable colors in greater abundance of bloom than 

 even along the roadsides. Yet here beside the autumn road, the bright 

 color of Xew England asters is incomparable against the background of 

 the waning year. 



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