240 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



silver quarter or larger, the little narrow green scales 

 beneath sharp - pointed and loose. An extremely 

 common but variable species found in low thickets 

 and swamps, from three to seven feet high. 



4. Aster radula. Rough -leaved aster. Blooms 

 in late August. Leaves oblong lance-shaped, pointed, 

 sharply toothed in the middle, very finely rough on 

 both sides, and absolutely stemless. Stem smooth or 

 slightly hairy, many-leaved. Flower pale violet, 

 about an inch and a quarter in diameter, with short 

 spreading green tips beneath. A common species 

 on low grounds, usually about twenty inches high ; 

 frequently lower. 



5. Aster patens. Spreading aster. Blooms about 

 the middle of August. Leaves ovate oblong, or some- 

 times longer, rough above and on the margins, with- 

 out teeth (or very rarely with small ones), and 

 stemless. Stem rough-hairy, terminating in slen- 

 der branchlets which bear the flowers. Flower 

 purple, with spreading, pointed green tips beneath ; 

 it measures an inch and a half across. This species 

 is common on the shaded borders of the highway, 

 usually on dry ground ; it grows from one to three 

 feet high. 



6. Aster undulatus. Wavy-leaved aster. Blooms 

 about the middle of August. Upper leaves ovate 

 lance-shaped, with wavy or slightly toothed margins, 



