176 THE INDIANA WEED BOOK. 



145. ASTER SALLCIFOLIUS Lam. Willow Aster. (P. N. 2.) 



Stem erect, rather slender, very leafy, much branched, glabrous or 

 hairy above, 2-5 feet high ; leaves firm, alternate, lanceolate or willow- 

 shaped, pointed, rough-margined, entire or few-toothed, sessile or slightly 

 clasping. Heads numerous, f inch broad, in loose terminal clusters ; re- 

 ceptacle flat, pitted ; involucre top-shaped, its bracts linear, green-tipped, 

 appressed in 4 or 5 overlapping rows: disk-flowers many, yellow; rays 

 numerous, bluish or violet, sometimes white, ^ inch long. Achenes flat- 

 tened, minutely hairy ; pappus of slender white bristles. 



Very common in low annually overflowed bottom lands of the 

 larger streams of the State, especially those which lie fallow for a 

 season or two. Aug.-Oct. Associated with it in the lowlands, the 

 two often forming a dense growth to the preclusion of other weeds, 

 is a closely allied form, the tall white or panicled aster (A. panicn- 

 'l at its Lam.) with thinner smoother leaves and chiefly white rays. 

 They are but two of the 30 species of asters recorded from the 

 State, all of them being distinctively flowers of autumn. They begin 

 blooming the last of August and as late as December 1st can often 

 be found in some protected nook, the last wild flowers of the dying- 

 year. The ray -flowers of these wild asters are in a single row and 

 fertile. In color they vary from a pure white to a deep blue ; a few 

 are of a pinkish hue, but none are red or yellow. The disk-flowers, 

 however, are yellow, but turn purplish-brown or red with age, Avhile 

 the pappus is usually a single row of hair-like bristles. Those which 

 live in woods and shaded places have broad and heart-shaped leaves 

 while those of the fields and open places produce leaves that are 

 slender or even awl-shaped. The name Aslcr, given them by Lin- 

 naeus in 1753, means a star, the numerous rays giving them a star- 

 like appearance. Longfellow refers to their naming in the following 

 lines : 



"Spake full well, in language quaint and olden, 



One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine, 

 When he called the flowers, so blue and golden, 



Stars, that in earth's firmament do shine." 



He probably had in mind the New England aster (A. novce-anglice 

 L.), one of our largest and most handsome species, which is also 

 very common in moist open grounds. It grows 2-8 feet high, is 

 rough-hairy and has very numerous lanceolate clasping leaves and 

 heads 1-2 inches wide, each with 40 or more long violet purple 

 rays. It occurs usually in large clumps, often along roadsides, 

 and is a striking member of our autumn flora. All these lowland 

 asters can be destroyed by repeated mowings or thorough culti- 

 vation. 



