white aster

here is aster lateriflorus, according to Dukes. of the asteraceae family, this plant flowers from september till the first frost.


this particular picture was taken october 21st, 2006 at mule jail. the aster or symphyotrichum genus, as the USDA site classifies it, is a touch difficult to narrow down to species on a macroscopic level, especially given the number of variations within each species of this genus, many of which look vastly different.

duff, correct me if i'm wrong, but, the species of a flowering plant is determined, largely, by the structure of the sexual organs (stamen and/or pistil) as observed microscopically. as this is the predominant mechanism for establishing which species a plant is part of, it seems that there is room for a good deal of variation, morphologically speaking, within a genus and even a species.

to make a long story short, this is a flower entry that will likely be revised.