420 



ASTER 



ASTER 



Bridgeman, a New York seedsman, offered the China 

 and German asters in 1837 "in numerous and splendid 

 varieties," specifying varieties "alba, rubra, cerulea 

 striata purpurea, etc." In 1845, Eley said that "China 

 and German asters" "are very numerous" in New 

 England. This name German aster records the fact that 

 the first great advances in the garden evolution of the 

 plant were made in Germany, and the seed then used 

 came largely from that country. The first marked de- 

 parture from the type appears to have been the pro- 

 longation or great development of the central florets of 

 the head, and the production of the "quilled" flower. 

 This type of aster was very popular fifty and sixty 

 years ago. Breck, in the first edition of his "Flower 

 Garden," 1851, speaks of the great improvement of the 

 aster "within a few years" "by the German florists, and 

 others," and adds that "the full-quilled varieties are 

 the most highly esteemed, having a hemispherical 

 shape, either a pure white, clear blue, purple, rose, or 

 deep red; or beautifully mottled, striped, or edged with 

 those colors, or having a red or blue center." About 

 sixty years ago the habit of the plant had begun to vary 

 considerably, and the progenitors of our modern dwarf 

 races began to attract attention. The quilled, high- 

 centered flower of a generation or more ago is too stiff to 

 satisfy the tastes of these later days, and the many flat- 

 rayed, loose and fluffy races are now most in demand, 

 and their popularity is usually greater the nearer they 

 approach the form of the uncombed chrysanthemums. 

 The China aster has long since varied into a wide 

 range of colors of the cyanic series shades of blue, 

 red, pink and purple. The modern evolution of the 

 plant is in the direction of habit and form of flower. 

 There are various well-marked races or types, each of 

 which has its full and independent range of colors. The 

 Comet type (with very flat rays), now one of the most 

 deserving of the China asters, illustrates these state- 

 ments admirably. This Comet form the loose, open 

 flower with long, strap-like rays appeared on the 

 market about 1886 or 1887, with a flower of a dull white 

 overlaid with pink. The pink tended to fade out after 

 the flower opened, leaving the color an unwashed white. 

 The rose - colored Comet 

 next appeared, and the blue 

 was introduced in 1890. 

 The first clear white was 

 introduced in America in 

 1892, coming from Vilmorin, 

 of Paris. The Branching 

 types marked a departure. 

 The introduction of the 

 "New White Branching" by 

 James Vick's Sons, in 1893, 

 gave the main impetus to 

 the com- 

 mercial de- 

 velopment 

 of the aster 

 in America. 

 It is prob- 

 able that 

 more than 

 one-half of 

 all the as- 

 ters now 

 grown in 



the United States are of the 

 various Branching varieties. The 

 named garden forms of China 

 aster are several hundred. As 

 early as 1895, American seeds- 

 men offered 250 varieties. Some 

 of the forms are shown in 

 Figs. 424-427. For botanical 

 424. China aster, the account of the China aster, see 

 Comet type. ( x Vi> Cattistephm. 



425. China aster, the Branch- 

 ing type. 



It is impossible to construct a satisfactory classifica- 

 tion of the China asters. It is no longer practicable to 

 classify the varieties by color. Neither is it feasible to 

 classify them upon 

 habit or stature of 

 plant, for several of 

 the best marked types 

 run into both tall and 

 dwarf forms. Vil- 

 morin, however, divides 

 the varieties into 

 two main groups, the 

 pyramidal growers, 

 and the non-pyramidal 

 growers. The most 

 elaborate classification 

 is that proposed by 

 Barron, from a study 

 of extensive tests made 

 at Chiswick, England. 

 Ban-on has 17 sections, 

 but they are not 

 coordinate, and they 

 are really little more 

 than an enumeration 

 of the various types 

 or classes. After con- 

 siderable study of the varieties in the field and her- 

 barium, the following scheme seems to be serviceable: 



A. Flat-rayed asters, in which all, or at least more than 5 or 6 

 rows of rays, are more or less prominently flat and the 

 florets open. 



B. Incurved or ball-shaped. 

 BB. Spreading or reffexed. 

 AA. Tubular or quilled asters, in which all, or all but the 2 or 3 



outer rows of florets, have prominently tubular corollas. 

 B. Inner florets short, outer ones longer and flat. Represented 



by the German Quilled. 

 BB. All the florets elongated and quilled. 



A grower's classification (Arnold) would be approxi- 

 mately as follows: 



Upright. All the branches erect; plants compact: 

 e. g., Victoria, Truffaut, Giant Comet. 



Semi-upright. Branches few; strong; ascending from 

 base: e. g., "non-lateral" type of Branching. 



Branching. Strong pyramidal habit. Original type 

 much branched. 



Spreading.- More open and spreading form than 

 Branching: e. g., Queen of the Market, Early Wonder 

 and Early Hohenzollern. 



For growing in borders, one of the best types is the 

 Comet (Fig. 424), in various colors. Other excellent 

 races are the Branching (Vick's Branching is shown in 

 Fig. 425) ; Truffaut, known also as Perfection and Peony- 

 flowered; Chrysanthemum-flowered; Washington; Vic- 

 toria, Mignon, and Queen of the Market. The last is 

 commended for earliness and graceful, open habit, and 

 it is one of the best for cut-flowers. Many other types 

 are valuable for special purposes. The Crown or Cocar- 

 deau is odd and attractive. Amongst the quilled asters, 

 the various strains of German Quilled (Fig. 426), Victoria 

 Needle (Fig. 427), and Lilliput are excellent. The very 

 dwarf tufted asters are well represented in Dwarf 

 Bouquet or Dwarf German, and Shakespeare. All these 

 are easily grown in any good garden soil. For early 

 bloom, seeds may be started under glass; but good fall 

 bloom may be had, even in the North, by sowing seeds 

 in the open as late as the 1st of June. Asters make 

 very showy bedding plants when grown in large masses, 

 and are also valuable for filling up vacancies in the 

 mixed herbaceous border, where they ought to be 

 planted in clumps, the dwarfer kinds put in front and 

 the taller behind. The colors of asters are not so strong 

 or heavy as to introduce violent contrasts, and for this 

 reason, as well as because of their simple requirements, 

 they are useful and popular. L. JJ. B. 



