Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Aster
There are several Asters to be found in the Shenandoah Valley. Native to North America, they make their appearance in late summer and continue to grace the landscape well into autumn.
This is the Purple-stemmed variety, which I found growing along the bank of a stream.
The blossoms are consistent in their color, with purple rays around a yellow disk. This is not the case with the second type of Aster I've photographed (below)
The Heath Aster, which blooms later then the Purple-stemmed variety, is found along roadside ditches and fence lines.
It is able to flourish in a dry, hard-packed soil that will not support its more delicate cousin above.
It also differs in that it is more variable in the coloring of its flowers. Its blossoms can range in color from a pale lavender, as in this plant above, to a pure white, as in this plant below.
Another Aster, known commonly as Chamomile, is also found in Virginia. Besides beautifying fence lines and roadsides with its pure-white flowers throughout the summer, it is also highly valued for the medicinal and flavoring properties contained in its petals and stems.
Chicory is also a member of the Aster family, but is not a native. It originated in Eurasia.
For weeks on end, these distinctive light-blue blossoms are a common sight on the shoulders of rural roads in Virginia.
Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon is an Aster that marches to a different drummer.
As we've noted, the short-lived Chicory blossom is spent before mid-afternoon.
But this cousin, also known as Showy Goat's Beard, has an even shorter-lived flower: After exposure to only a few hours of early morning sunshine these super-ephemeral blossoms are gone, thus the first name.
Hyssop Boneset, also known as Hyssop-leaved Thoroughwort, another exotic Aster, is notable for the characteristic placement of its spiky leaves.
It had at one time a reputation in folk medicine as an aid to knitting broken bones.
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