270 THE FLOWERS OF AUTUMN. 



multitudes of asters, goldenrods, and autumnal dande- 

 lions, until the uplands are universally spangled with 

 them, and gleam with a profusion of blossoms unwit- 

 nessed at any other season. 



The asters are the most remarkable of the flowers 

 of autumn, and are, in many respects, characteristic of 

 the season. Their stalks are woody ; but they are not 

 shrubs, and their flowers are more delicate than brilliant. 

 The foreign asters which are cultivated in our gardens, 

 though exceeding the native species in the brilliancy 

 of their hues, are inferior to the latter in elegance of 

 growth, and in the delicate structure of their blossoms. 

 The prevailing color of the autumnal flowers is yellow; 

 yet there is not a single yellow aster among their whole 

 extensive tribe. Near the latter part of September the 

 fields are covered with asters of every shade, from the 

 deep blue of the cyaneus and the purple of the New 

 England aster, to the purest white. The walls and the 

 edges of the woods are bordered with long rows of gold- 

 enrods, and multitudes of gaudy flowers have usurped 

 the dominion of the roses, hiding the summer shrubbery 

 beneath their tall and spreading herbage. 



Some flowers are interesting because they are rare ; 

 some because they are common and familiar; some at- 

 tract our attention because they are large, others because 

 they are small. We are in the habit of admiring oppo- 

 site qualities in very similar things. The pineweed, a 

 little plant that is abundant in September, is interesting 

 on account of its minuteness. We meet it in dry pas- 

 tures and on rustic roadsides, on a thin and sandy soil, 

 in company with the Trichostema, a very pretty annual 

 with numerous blue flowers, each having two long sta- 

 mens overarching the flower, so as to resemble blue curls, 

 the common name of the species. The pineweed never 

 fails to attract attention by its multitudes of little star- 



