The Alpine Starwort or Alpine 



Aster 



(ASTER ALP1NUS) 



THE beautiful little Alpine Aster is found all over the Alps. 

 It flowers in July, August, and September, but occasionally it 

 may be found in bloom even as early as May. It grows in 

 dry Alpine pastures, sunny meadows, and rocky places, not 

 infrequently in company with the Edelweiss, between 4000 

 and 9000 feet ; in a few places it extends much lower. The 

 plant consists of a rosette of woolly tufted leaves, with a 

 central stem bearing the solitary flower-head. In the higher 

 regions the flower-stem is short, perhaps only 4 inches 

 in length, but nearer the plains it may be 8 or 9 inches. 

 In any case, however, the flower-head is large, an inch 

 or two in diameter, and conspicuous on account of the broad 

 purple ray florets, which contrast strongly with the golden 

 yellow centre. The Alpine Aster is very widely distributed, 

 being found in Northern Asia, Arctic America, and in most 

 of the mountain ranges of Central and Southern Europe, but 

 not in the far North. 



Closely resembling this plant is the Alpine Fleabane 

 (Erigeron alpind). It has narrower ray-florets, which are 

 arranged in several rows and not in a single row like those 

 of the Alpine Aster, and a branched flower-stem bearing 



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