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White Asters

Aster, Composite Family.

Flower-heads.--Composed of white ray-flowers with a center of yellow disk-flowers.

While we have far fewer species of white than of blue or purple asters, some of these few are so abundant in individuals as to hold their own fairly well against their bright-hued rivals.

The slender zigzag stems, thin, coarsely toothed, heart-shaped leaves, and white, loosely clustered flower-heads of A. corymbosus, are noticeable along the shaded roadsides and in the open woods of August. Bordering the dry fields at this same season are the spreading wand-like branches, thickly covered with the tiny flower-heads as with snowflakes, of A. ericoides.

A. umbellatus is the tall white aster of the swamps and moist thickets. It sometimes reaches a height of seven feet and can be identified by its long tapering leaves and large, flat flowerclusters.

A beautiful and abundant seaside species is A. multiflorus. Its small flower-heads are closely crowded on the low, bushy, spreading branches; its leaves are narrow, rigid, crowded, and somewhat hoary. The whole effect of the plant is heath-like; it also somewhat suggests an evergreen.