A closer look at heath asters
Two days ago you got a panoramic view of some densely flowering heath asters, Symphyotrichum ericoides, and now here’s a closer look. Most of this species’ flower spikes are more horizontal than vertical, but once in a while one stands upright. I photographed these upstanding flowers in Manor, a town on the Blackland Prairie about ten miles east of Austin, on November 3.
For more information about this species, including a state-clickable map showing the many places in North America where heath asters grow, you can visit the USDA website.
© 2011 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Any idea why some are yellow, and some purple? We have a ton of if not this same species, a similar one, up here in southern vermont. http://tinyurl.com/82gpjo2
sarah
November 13, 2011 at 8:45 AM
Sorry, Sarah, I don’t know why the color of the disk flowers varies that way, and none of the books I’ve looked in offer an explanation. I wonder if the color darkens as the flowers age.
Steve Schwartzman
November 13, 2011 at 9:28 AM
I love how these looked a tower of daisies.
Just A Smidgen
November 13, 2011 at 12:53 PM
Maybe a fantastic architect will follow your idea and design a monument or dwelling like this.
Steve Schwartzman
November 13, 2011 at 1:39 PM
🙂
Just A Smidgen
November 14, 2011 at 8:22 AM
I love these flowers. Thanks for sharing.
TBM
November 14, 2011 at 6:50 AM
You’re welcome. I moiled in the stiff prairie wind to get pictures that were sharp.
Steve Schwartzman
November 14, 2011 at 7:07 AM
LOL…I love it!
TBM
November 14, 2011 at 7:17 AM
Thanks. TBM is alluding to the use of the word moil, which was the focus of an article in my other blog.
Steve Schwartzman
November 14, 2011 at 7:39 AM
Beautiful pic!
cidnlars
November 14, 2011 at 7:48 AM
Thanks, Cindy.
Steve Schwartzman
November 14, 2011 at 8:19 AM
I sat and stared at this photo for quite some time. The color and definition caught my eye, first. What is really fascinating, however, is all that shadow play from those intricate petals trapping the light.
lesliepaints
November 18, 2011 at 9:16 AM
I’m glad to have your artist’s eye turned loose on this picture. Like you, I’m often fascinated by shadows.
Steve Schwartzman
November 18, 2011 at 9:59 AM
Lovely set of colors and flowers 🙂
firasz
November 22, 2011 at 12:57 PM
I’m still seeing a few of these as I drive around Austin.
Steve Schwartzman
November 22, 2011 at 1:20 PM
[…] you can certainly see the resemblance to some of our other asters if you compare the photographs of heath aster and especially hierba del marrano (both of which are now usually put in the genus Symphyotrichum […]
Mexican devilweed « Portraits of Wildflowers
January 14, 2012 at 5:03 AM
[…] In a post on October 8th I asked “What would autumn be without asters?” The aster shown then was a species (I don’t know which one) that produces flower heads with some space separating them. In contrast, today’s photograph shows white heath aster, Symphyotrichum ericoides, which gives rise to dense masses of flower heads. (If you’d like a closer look at flowers of this species, you can check out a post from a year less a day ago.) […]
Asters on the prairie « Portraits of Wildflowers
November 12, 2012 at 6:21 AM
I don’t believe that I have seen this species of aster. This is a pretty one for sure. I have a few that crop up here and there on my property but they are lanky and the flowers are sparse.- not denseley clustered in a beautilful bloom such as this. Mine bloom sometimes in late spring or even in the summer.
petspeopleandlife
November 12, 2012 at 11:24 AM
It’s quite widespread in the United States, so chances are good that you’ll eventually run across it. You may want to check the state-clickable USDA map to see how close to you the species has been reported:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SYER
As you pointed out, the density of its flowers distinguishes this species from most of the other asters.
Steve Schwartzman
November 12, 2012 at 11:31 AM