HEATH ASTER

HEATH ASTER: A LOW GROWING, RAMBLING PLANT...

WITH VERY SMALL LEAVES, AND ABUNDANT, SMALL COMPOUND WHITE FLOWERS

PORKY OUT FOR A STROLL

Saturday, 9:00 AM.  52 degree F at the ferry dock, 49 on the back porch.  Wind ESE, light with slightly stronger gusts.  The sky is sunny, the humidity 77%.  The bafrometer is fallig, now at 39,42".  Today and tomorrow will be warmer and it looks like we will have sunny, warm nd dry conditions for the next ten days or so.  About time!
   Asters are the dominant fall flower of fields and gardens. With over 70 species of native asters in North America they can be quite confusing, but some of the fall asters stand out and are easy to know.
   The white heath aster, Aster ericoides, in the Sunflower Family, the Compositae. is unmistakable as it is only 1' to 3' tall, a rambling plant with tiny leaves (thus the ericoides, which means heath-like) and small, less than 1/2", white composite flowers with yellow centers.  It grows along paths and roadsides and other sandy, gravelly locations throughout North America and northern Mexico.  I found these out blackberry picking.
   As I mentioned in an earlier post, some taxonomists have changed the genus name to Symphtotrichum, but I will stick with the original name assigned by Lineaus, which of course means "star like"in Latin and is properly descriptive.  To make maters even more confusing, some have changed the venerable family name Compositae to Asteraceae. Some people are never satisfied.
   There are a lot of garden varieties of heath aster, which can be colored pink to blue as well as white, and are more civilized.  I like the wild version, clamoring over rocks and waste ground.
   We came across a young porcupine out for a stroll while we were berry picking, but we stayed out of its way, Buddy being in the truck.  A dog with a mouthful of quills is truly a disaster.