WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 



and Asters, during August and September. The hairy 

 stem grows from one to six feet high, and usually in 

 dry soil. The alternating deep green leaves vary in 

 size and shape as they ascend the stalk. They are gen- 

 erally narrowly lance-shaped, and their surface is 

 densely covered with tiny dots. The flower heads are 

 semi-circular, and from fifteen to forty-five are borne 

 on short stems in a long, terminal, wand-like spike. 

 They are composed entirely of coloured tubular florets. 

 The large leafy cup has five or six rows of long, bristly, 

 purple-tipped scales. The tuberous root has been used 

 as a remedy for sore throats, and also as a cure for 

 rattlesnake bite. It ranges from the Gulf of Mexico 

 to Maine, Ontario and Nebraska. 



THE ASTERS 



The Asters or Starworts come tripping along toward 

 the last of August, with the Golden-rods, and continue 

 throughout September and most of October in such 

 profusion that they appear to completely smother 

 everything with their beautiful starry flowers. With- 

 out the Asters, the glorious American autumn would 

 lose much of its lovely charm, for every roadside, fence- 

 row, field, meadow and hillside is brilliantly spangled 

 with their scintillating and billowy radiance, and I 

 have often surmised that perhaps Dame Nature 

 rehearsed them annually for a grand snow-scene ta- 

 bleau. Subject to great variation, big and little, short 

 and tall, dense and sparse, ragged and tidy, they 

 become highly confusing, and it takes considerable 



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