From Blue to Purple 



clasping, oblong, tapering leaves, rough margined, but rarely with 

 a saw-tooth, toward the top of the stem, while those low down 

 on it gradually narrow into clasping wings. 



In dry, sandy soil, mostly near the coast, from Massachusetts 

 to Delaware, grows one of the loveliest of all this beautiful clan, 

 the Low, Showy, or Seaside Purple Aster {A. spectabilis). The stiff, 

 usually unbranched stem does its best in attaining a height of 

 two feet. Above, the leaves are blade-like or narrowly oblong, 

 seated on the stem, whereas the tapering, oval basal leaves are 

 furnished with long footstems, as is customary with most asters. 

 The handsome, bright, violet-purple flower-heads, measuring 

 about an inch and a half across, have from fifteen to thirty rays, 

 or only about half as many as the familiar New England aster. 

 Season : August to November. 



The low-growing Bog Aster {A. nemoralis), not to be con- 

 fused with the much taller Red-stalked species often found growing 

 in the same swamp, and having, like it, flower-heads measuring 

 about an inch and a half across, has rays that vary from light vio- 

 let purple to rose pink. Its oblong to lance-shaped leaves, only 

 two inches long at best, taper to a point at both ends, and are seated 

 on the stem. We look for this aster in sandy bogs from New 

 jersey northward and westward during August and September. 



The Stiff or Savory-leaved Aster^ Sandpaper, or Pine Starwort 

 {lonactis Unariifolius), now separated from the other asters into 

 a genus by itself, is a low, branching little plant with no basal 

 leaves, but some that are very narrow and blade-like, rigid, entire 

 and one-nerved, ascending the stifl" stems. The leaves along the 

 branches are minute and awl-shaped, like those on a branch of pine. 

 Only from ten to fifteen violet ray flowers (pistillate) surround the 

 perfect disk florets. From Qyebec to the Gulf of Mexico, and 

 westward beyond the Mississippi this prim little shrub grows in 

 tufts on dry or rocky soil, and blooms from July to October. 



Robin's, or Poor Robin's, or Robert's Plan- 

 tain ; Blue Spring Daisy; Daisy-leaved 

 Fleabane 



{Erigeron pulchellus) Thistle family 



{E. bellifolium of Gray) 



Flower-heads — Composite, daisj-like, i to i >^ in. across ; the outer 

 circle of about 50 pale bluish-violet ray florets; the disk florets 

 greenish yellow. Stem : Simple, erect, hairy, juicy, flexible, 

 from ID in. to 2 ft. high, producing runners and offsets from 

 base. Leaves: Spatulate, in a flat tuft about the root ; stem 

 leaves narrow, more acute, seated, or partly clasping. 



75 



