WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 



enough in dry copses, from New Brunswick and Ontario 

 to Florida, Alabama and Arkansas, during August, 

 September and October. 



COMMON BLUE WOOD ASTER 



Aster cordifolius. Thistle Family. 



This is a very handsome, spreading, bushy and 

 small-flowered Aster, growing from one to five feet 

 high, in partly shaded woods, roadsides, thickets and 

 on dry banks from early August until the frost and 

 snow finally obliterate them. The slender, leafy stalk 

 is almost smooth, much-branched and often stained 

 with purple. The thin-textured, sharply toothed 

 leaves have a rough surface, and on the under side, 

 the more prominent veins are lightly covered with fine 

 hairs. They are decidedly heart-shaped, taper to a 

 slender point, and are set on slender stems. As they 

 ascend the stalk, the leaves become shorter-stemmed 

 and are egg-shaped or lance-shaped in outline. From 

 ten to twenty delicately coloured rays surround the 

 dark centre of the flower heads, which are densely 

 clustered like little handfuls of confetti, toward the lips 

 of the numerous branches. This is one of our com- 

 monest Asters, and ranges from New Brunswick to 

 Minnesota, Georgia and Missouri. 



SMOOTH ASTER 



Aster laevis. Thistle Family. 



A variable but most elegant Aster everywhere com- 

 mon in dry soil along roadsides and in open woods, 



381 



