The leaf is a long oval (near the foot sometimes fully 3 inches long), with strong and hairy midrib, and a slightly notched margin; the edge and upper surface are disagreeably rough to the touch. In color light green, the midrib sometimes purple. The arrangement is alternate.
The disc flowers are yellow, turning to tawny; the ray flowers (20 to 30 in number) are long, and of a delicate light purple. The cups are composed of several rows of long, fine, spreading green parts. The heads are arranged in small groups, set on short stems, which rise from the angles of the leaves.
Though somewhat awkward in manner of growth the blossoms of this early Aster are very pretty and profuse. The rays, as they lie folded in the bud, are silvery pale.
EARLY PURPLE ASTER: A. puniceus.
| Pointed-leaved Aster. | Aster acuminatus. |
Found in August in rich woods (Mountains of Vermont).
It grows about 1 foot high, and has a slender, sometimes zigzag stalk, which is slightly rough, and bears the leaves and flowers clustered at the top.
The leaf, from 2 to 4 inches long, tapers at tip and base, and is coarsely toothed on the edge; the surface is a little hairy, and the texture is thin; the leaves, set directly on the stalk, are alternate at short distances, giving the effect of a whorl of leaves. Color green.
The flower-head has from 12 to 18 long, narrow, rays, white or faintly tinted with violet, while the disc flowers are dull yellow. The flower-heads are apt to be few, on slender stems in a branching cluster, on the top of the stalk.