COMPOSITE FAMILY. Composite. 



tubular florets and 6-10 large rays. 2-5 feet high. Dry 

 soil, Mass., south to Ga., and west to Minn, and S. Dak. 

 . , A slightly fragrant species, distinctly dif- 



Golden-rod ferent from all the foregoing. The very 

 Solidago small flowers in & flat-topped cluster, and 



lanceolata the very small, toothless, lance-shaped, nar- 



August-early rQW wi u ow uk e ji g i lt g ree n leaves with 3-5 

 October ., , , , „,, 



ribs and very rough edges. The stem is 



straight, angular in section, with the ridges minutely 

 rough, and terminates in a thin, wiry-branched flower- 

 cluster not at all showy in color ; the tiny flower-heads 

 in small crowded groups ; 12-20 minute rays. 2-4 feet 

 high. On river-banks, borders of damp woods, or in 

 moist situations, everywhere. 



Slender ^ somewhat similar, resinously fragrant 



Golden-rod species ; the difference apparent in the 

 s<,ndago slenderer, smoother stem and the very 



tenuifoha narrow, linear, dotted leaves, commonly 



one-ribbed. The tiny flower-heads, with 6-12 rays, in 

 numerous groups of 2-3, forming a flat-topped cluster 

 15-18 inches high. In dry sandy soil mostly near the 

 coast. Mass., south, and west to 111. 



The genus Aster, named from ddrr/p, a star, is a varied 

 and beautiful, late-flowering tribe which, with Solidago, 

 monopolizes the roadsides and byways in autumn. The 

 species are distinguished apart in much the same way as 

 in Solidago. The ray-florets are pistillate, the tubular 

 florets (upon the disc) perfect, with a five-parted yellow 

 corolla, which with age turns dull magenta. Fertilized 

 mostly by honeybees, bumblebees, and the beelike flies. 

 All the asters yield an abundance of nectar. 



A small white aster, not showy but cora- 



i \ \ 4. °° m on in thin woods. The stem is rather 



land Aster , 



Aster smooth, a trifle zig-zagged, and quite slen- 



devaricatus der ; the olive green leaves are coarsely 



White toothed, slender-stemmed, heart-shaped, 



OctobTr ber ~ sharp-pointed, and smooth. The white 



flowers, as broad asa" nickel," have only 



6-9 rays ; the disc-flowers turn madder purple with age. 



1-2 feet high. Me., south to Ga., and west. 



484 



