HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



few teeth on the lower, rough along margins, sessile, often heart- 

 shaped at base and clasping the stem, i -nerved. Stem, slender, 

 simple, or with a few branches, i to 3 feet high. Heads of flowers, 

 of medium size, in panicles, terminating the upper branches. 

 June to September. 



A graceful aster, found in wet soil, as swamps and bogs, 

 from New Jersey and Ohio northward. One of our earliest.' 



New York Aster 



A. n&vi-belgii — Color, bright to pale violet blue. Leaves, lance- 

 shaped, acute, entire, or some finely and distinctly toothed, firm, 

 narrowed at base, the upper sessile and clasping, the lower 

 petioled, 2 to 5 inches long. Stem, slender, leafy, branched, 1 to 

 3 feet high. Heads of flowers, numerous, in flattish panicles. 

 Rays many. Disk bright yellow. August to October. 



Swamps near the coast, Maine to Georgia. One of our 

 commonest asters, late-flowering. There are many varieties 

 of this aster. One, A. litdreus, is low, stiff, almost prickly, 

 with shorter and broader leaves, found only near the coast. 



Salt Marsh Aster 



A. tenaifolius. — Color, pale purple, nearly white. Leaves, nar- 

 rowly linear, somewhat fleshy, entire, pointed, sessile, almost 

 clasping the stem, the lowest 2 to 6 inches long. Stem, forked 

 above, zigzag when old and dry, loosely branched, 1 to 2 feet 

 high. Heads of flowers, large, on the tips of upper branches. 

 Rays, long, numerous, drooping. August to October. 



This crooked-stemmed aster is common in salt marshes, 

 low growing, with showy flowers. Massachusetts to Florida, 

 near the coast. 



A. subulktus. — Color, purplish. Rays, in 2 rows, short, not 

 longer than the disk. Flowers, small, bell - shape, in panicles. 

 Leaves, long and very narrow, flat, entire, with square, sessile 

 bases; those on the branches small, awl-shaped. Stem, rather 

 thick, 1 to 6 feet high. August to November. 



Common in salt marshes from New Hampshire to Florida. 

 (See illustration, p. 363.) 



Bog Aster 



A. nemoralis. — Color, light violet purple, often with a tinge of 

 pink. Rays, long, and flower from 1 to it inches broad, the 

 heads solitary or a few in flat clusters. Leaves, small, lance- 

 shape, generally toothed, sessile, with margins turned back. 



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