New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
- Family: Aster (Asteraceae)
- Flowering: August-October.
- Field Marks: This aster is distinguished by its 40-80 violet-purple rays per flowerhead, and its toothless clasping leaves on the stem.
- Habitat: Wet prairies, wet meadows, low fields, along streams, marshes, bogs.
- Habit: Perennial herbs with short, thick rhizomes.
- Stems: Erect, solitary or several in clumps, hairy, up to 7 feet tall.
- Leaves: Alternate, simple, lanceolate, pointed at the tip, without teeth, heart-shaped and clasping the stem at the base, hairy, up to 4 inches long, less than 1 inch wide.
- Flowers: Many crowded into a head, the outer violet purple and ray-like, the inner tubular, yellow, forming a disk, with several heads per plant, each head up to 1 1/2 inches across, subtended by many narrow green bracts.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: Some violet-purple, narrow, united to form rays, up to 3/4 inch long, others yellow, 5-lobed, united below into a tube.
- Stamens: 5.
- Pistils: Ovary inferior.
- Fruits: Achenes dark brown, ellipsoid, hairy, up to 1/6 inch long.
- Notes: This is a very showy species that is sometimes transplanted into flower gardens.
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