STABWOBT. 



Aster Tripoli >nn. Nat. Ord., 

 Coiiipoaifce. 



| HE present plant has several 

 names, though of these the 

 Sea-aster and the one we 

 have selected above are at 

 once the commonest and 

 most expressive. Aster, we 

 need scarcely pause to ex- 

 plain, means a star, while 

 wort is the Saxon word for 

 plant. It will be seen, there- 

 fore, that the same idea, a 

 reference to the star-like rays 

 of the flower, runs through 

 both names, and any one 

 who has seen its stellate 

 blossoms enlivening in their 

 thousands some dreary sea- 

 side marsh will feel the full appropriateness and beauty 

 of the titles given. Other names in more or less common 

 use are the Michaelmas daisy, the blue daisy, and the blue 

 chamomile. The true Michaelmas daisy is a plant of very 

 near kindred, and we can easily see how the name of the 

 garden flower got transferred to this dweller in the waste, 

 nor is there any more difficulty in understanding how the 

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