GOLDEN ASTER

(Chrysopsis Mariana) Thistle family



Plower-heads - Composite, yellow, 1 in. wide or less, a few

corymbed flowers on glandular stalks; each composed of perfect

tubular disk florets surrounded by pistillate ray florets the

involucre campanulate, its narrow bracts overlapping in several

series. Stem: Stout, silky-hairy when young, nearly smooth later,

1 to 2 1/2 ft. tall. Leaves: Alternate, oblong to spatulate,

entire.

Preferred Habitat - Dry soil, or sandy, not far inland.

Flowering Season - August-September.

Distribution - Long Island and Pennsylvania to the Gulf States.



Whoever comes upon clumps of these handsome flowers by the dusty

roadside cannot but be impressed with the appropriateness of

their generic name (Chrysos = gold; opsis = aspect). Farther

westward, north and south. it is the HAIRY GOLDEN ASTER (C.

villosa), a pale, hoary-haired plant with similar flowers borne

at midsummer, that is the common species.