WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 



Newfoundland to Maine and Georgia, during August, 

 September and October. There are a number of 

 varieties of this species several of which have been 

 described, but as they are still more or less confused, 

 they have been disregarded in this description. 



RED-STALK. PURPLE-STEM, OR EARLY PURPLE 

 ASTER. SWANWEED. COCASH. 

 MEADOW SCABISH 



Aster puniceus. Thistle Family. 



A variable, tall, stout, rough-hairy and generally 

 purple-stemmed species, commonly found in low, 

 moist thickets and swampy places from July to Novem- 

 ber. It rises from three to eight feet, and branches 

 widely at the top. The long, oval or lance-shaped 

 leaves have a tapering point, and clasp the stalk with 

 a broad or narrow, heart-shaped base. The mar- 

 gins are regularly and coarsely toothed, or sparingly 

 so, in the middle. The upper surface is very rough, 

 and the under side of the midrib is hairy. The numer- 

 ous flower heads are from one-half to one and one-half 

 inches broad. From twenty to forty long, narrow, 

 showy lilac-blue or white rays surround the yellow, 

 tubular disc florets, which are prettily set in a loose, 

 spreading, green cup. They are profusely arranged 

 in terminal clusters on the tips of the branches, 

 and are very attractive. This is one of the very 

 earliest-blooming of the Aster group, and is found 

 almost everywhere from Nova Scotia to Western 



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