432, COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 
Fic. 300. — Smooth 
Aster (Aster levis). 
xt 
Stem two to four feet high, rather stout, 
smooth and polished or often glaucous, sim- 
ple or branched at the top. , Leavés light 
green, rather thick in texture, one to four 
inches long, smooth and shining or covered 
with a bloom, entire or minutely toothed, 
oblong and pointed, the upper ones sessile 
and clasping the stem with auricled or heart- 
shaped base, the lower ones tapering to 
margined petioles which are partly clasping. 
Heads numerous, in slender open panicles, 
each about an inch broad, the rays deep 
violet-blue, sometimes purple; involucre 
-bell-shaped, its bracts imbricated in several 
rows, smooth, acute, rigid, green-tipped. 
Achenes smooth, with a tawny pappus. 
(Fig. 300.) 
Means of control 
Enrich the ground and enable it to sup- 
port plants of more worth. A cultivated 
crop, heavily fertilized and well tilled, fol- 
lowed by a clean seeding of clover or grass, 
will drive out this and many other weeds. 
WHITE HEATH ASTER 
Aster ertcotdes, L. 
Other English names: Steelweed, Frostweed, White Rosemary, 
Serubbush. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: August to October. 
Seed-time: September to December. 
Range: Maine to Ontario and Wisconsin, southward to Virginia 
and Kentucky.. 
Habitat: Dry soil; meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 
Meadows and pastures infested with this weed are in a bad 
condition, for as green forage it is worthless, and the hard, woody 
