COMPOSITE FAMILY. Composite. 



A very tall species with white or lilac- 



rL Cle * d * white flowers a trifle larger than a "nickel," 



White Aster 



Aster borne in somewhat flat- topped, loose or 



paniculatus scattered clusters ; the leaves dark green, 



White very nearly if not quite smooth, long 



ug " st ~ lance-shaped, and obscurely toothed ; the 



upper ones toothless. The stout, much- 

 branched stem is 3-8 feet high. Common on low moist 

 ground and borders of copses, in half shade, everywhere. 

 A northern species with remarkably nar- 

 Astfr" Ca row ' toothless (or nearly so) leaves 3-8 



Aster inches long, and pale violet or light purple 



longifolius flowers as large as a silver quarter. The 

 Light violet flower-envelop is encircled with many lit- 

 October *' e acu ^ e scales strongly curled backward. 



1-3 feet high. In swamps and low ground. 

 Northern N. Eng. , west to Minn, and Mont. 



Flowers large pale violet, lilac or blue- 

 New York Aster . , . 



or Willow- violet, with 15-24 rays, nearly \ inch 



leaved Blue long. The stemless, usually toothless light 

 Aster green leaves are thin, long, and smooth , or 



Aster Novi- tne sma n U pp er ones clasping the stem, 

 LHfuTor tne lower verv slightly toothed. 10-35 



blue-violet inches high. Gray calls this the "corn- 

 August- monest late-flowered aster of the Atlantic 

 October border, and very variable " ; but through- 

 out New Hampshire A. puniceus is far commoner. The 

 variations of A. Novi-Belgii are var. Icevigatus, smooth 

 throughout, with the upper leaves clasping the stem by 

 an abrupt base ; N. Eng. and east. : var. litoreus, rigid, 

 low, with thick, smooth leaves, the upper ones clasping the 

 stem by a heart-shaped base ; salt marshes south to Ga. 



A northern species. The upper part of 

 prenanthoides ^ e s ^ em * s hairy in lines, and occasionally 

 Pale violet brownish ; the rough (but smooth beneath), 

 September- ovate lance-shaped leaves are contracted at 

 October ^ ne base to a long wide-stemlike figure 



finally heart-shaped at the plant-stem. The flowers, 

 about as large as a silver quarter, are pale violet or 

 nearly lilac-white. 1-3 feet high. Margins of woods and 

 banks of streams. Newfane, Vt. to Pa., Iowa, and Wis. 

 494 



