COMPOSITE FAMILY. Composites. 



tubular florets and 6-10 large rays. 2-5 feet high. Dry 

 soil, Mass., south to Ga., and west to Minn, and S. Dak. 

 Lance-leaved A sli g htlv fragrant species, distinctly dif- 

 Qolden-rod ferent from all the foregoing. The very 

 Solidago small flowers in aflat-topped cluster, and 



lanceolata the very small, toothless, lance-shaped, nar- 



octobel ear ' y row willowlike ' Kg* 1 * Kreen leaves with 3-5 

 ribs and very rough edges. The stem is 

 straight, angular in section, with the ridges minutely 

 rough; and terminates in a thin, wiry-branched flower- 

 cluster not at all showy in color ; the tiny flower-heads 

 in small crowded groups ; 12-20 minute rays. 2-4 feet 

 high. On river- banks, borders of damp woods, or in 

 moist situations, everywhere. 



Slender -^ somewhat similar, resinously fragrant 



Golden-rod species : the difference apparent in the 

 Solidago slenderer, smoother stem and the very 



tenuifoha narrow, linear, dotted leaves, commonly 

 one-ribbed. The tiny flower-heads, with 6-12 rays, in 

 numerous groups of 2-3, forming a flat-topped cluster 

 15-18 inches high. In dry sandy soil mostly near the 

 coast. Mass., south, and west to 111. 



The genus Aster, named from atfrr/p, a star, is a varied 

 and beautiful, late-flowering tribe which, with Solidago, 

 monopolizes the roadsides and byways in autumn. The 

 species are distinguished apart in much the same way as 

 in Solidago. The ray-florets are pistillate, the tubular 

 florets (upon the disc) perfect, with a five-parted yellow 

 corolla, which with age turns dull magenta. Fertilized 

 mostly by honeybees, bumblebees, and the beelike flies. 

 All the asters yield an abundance of nectar. 



A small white aster, not showy but com- 



ner m n *" thin woods< The stem is rather 

 Aster smooth, a trifle zig-zagged, and quite slen- 



devaricatus der ; the olive green leaves are coarsely 

 White toothed, slender-stemmed, heart-shaped, 



September- sharp-pointed, and smooth. The white 

 flowers, as broad as a " nickel," have only 

 6-9 rays ; the disc-flowers turn madder purple with age. 

 1-2 feet high. Me. , south to Ga. , and west. 



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