Symphyotrichum subulatum
Symphyotrichum subulatum goes by the vernacular names baby’s breath aster, annual aster, eastern annual saltmarsh aster, Blackland aster, and hierba del marrano. That last is the one Marshall Enquist uses in his wildflower book, and therefore the one I adopted; it’s Spanish for pigweed, though whether pigs particularly like eating this plant, I have no idea. Its flower heads are diminutive, about one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch across (6–9 mm). In contrast, these much-branched plants can grow to be 5 ft. (1.5 m) tall. They’re reputed to be the most common aster in Texas.
Like several recently posted pictures, today’s are from the Blackland Prairie in northeast Austin on August 3rd. The second portrait shows the ray florets’ tendency to curl under. Once again flash and a tiny aperture led to both pictures showing an unusually dark sky even in broad daylight.
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© 2023 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I think of saying bad words when I see that kind of spam…(and worse). 🤬
AT SUNNYSIDE - WHERE TRUTH AND BEAUTY MEET
August 12, 2023 at 4:56 AM
Oh, and I wonder if the flowers are called pigweed because of the curly florets? Like the curly pig tails. 🐷
AT SUNNYSIDE - WHERE TRUTH AND BEAUTY MEET
August 12, 2023 at 4:59 AM
Now that’s an imaginative hypothesis.
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2023 at 6:45 AM
😎🌺
AT SUNNYSIDE - WHERE TRUTH AND BEAUTY MEET
August 12, 2023 at 6:14 PM
That sounds out of character for you.
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2023 at 6:43 AM
Quite out of character…fortunately! 🙂
AT SUNNYSIDE - WHERE TRUTH AND BEAUTY MEET
August 12, 2023 at 6:16 PM
I do hope you keep breathing in and out at least several times a day, that does seem like a good idea.
Robert Parker
August 12, 2023 at 8:24 AM
Yes, I try to remember to do that. It sure beats not breathing.
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2023 at 8:26 AM
The aster family certainly is diverse. This particular member grows in northern Florida but not in our area. No matter which species, the asters are very popular with pollinators.
Great photographs and those settings plus flash resulted in wonderful details.
Wally Jones
August 12, 2023 at 12:33 PM
In Texas (and for all I know in Florida, too) Asteraceae claims more species than any other botanical family.
As you alluded to, I use the small apertures that flash enables to keep as many details in focus as possible.
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2023 at 2:35 PM
Lovely photos, both. Is the flower with the curled under ray an older bloom?
Tina
August 12, 2023 at 3:01 PM
That’s my understanding. I’ve noticed this kind of curling under in other daisy-type flowers as they age.
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2023 at 5:06 PM
My 4-nerve daisies do that. Not sure about the fall aster, I’ll keep an eye on them in fall. Whenever that happens.
Tina
August 12, 2023 at 5:54 PM
It was four-nerve daisies that I most had in mind.
With a high of at least 105° every day, “whenever that happens” is right on target.
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2023 at 9:01 PM
It’s aster season. I don’t pay much attention to the spam messages but read them today to see how they compare with yours. I like yours better. Most of mine are for car parts and air conditioning with a few nonsensical ones tossed in. I do think the comment about breathing in and out a few times a day is good advice.
Steve Gingold
August 12, 2023 at 5:44 PM
Now you’ve made me wonder why different people end up with different kinds of spam. Maybe there’s a PhD waiting for the person who studies that.
Latitude is of course a big factor in our different aster seasons. We’re at least two months from the peak of that here.
Steve Schwartzman
August 12, 2023 at 9:05 PM
Possibly it has to do with our use of the internet or some other arcane reasoning. Our asters are just beginning but peak is also a month or two away.
Steve Gingold
August 13, 2023 at 3:04 AM
Yeah, I thought about our use of the internet. Just as we get pitched ads for products related to recent searches we’ve done, spam may work in a similar way. We’re being spied on constantly, alas.
Steve Schwartzman
August 13, 2023 at 8:42 AM
I stopped caring about being spied upon long ago. Nothing to do about it short of following Ted Kaczynski’s path which probably wouldn’t be a good idea. I’ve no deep secrets so really don’t care who knows what about me. I just empty spam regularly and carry on.
Steve Gingold
August 13, 2023 at 9:59 AM
I’m concerned about what the gathered data about us gets used for. China’s “social credit” system is a dystopian way to go—and yet it’s happened.
Steve Schwartzman
August 13, 2023 at 11:11 AM
Well, that is something to be concerned about but still if society trends in that direction it will be hard to stop it. So the less we put out there about ourselves the less likely we are to have problems that way. Considering how worried you are about the way “leftists” are pursuing goals I am surprised you post your opinions as you do. That said, I think our worries are more consumer related since our way of living is more consumption/profit based while China’s is more authoritarian. At least we are not going in that direction yet.
Steve Gingold
August 13, 2023 at 11:19 AM
Actually it never occurred to me I might be on some government watchlist(s). I wouldn’t think so, given that I have essentially no influence, but who knows? After the mass psychosis of 2020, I felt I had no choice but to speak out, and that’s how I gradually eased into writing commentaries.
Steve Schwartzman
August 13, 2023 at 1:00 PM
Asters in bud here, not long to go before they flower. But I wish that they hadn’t changed the name to Symphyo-what-was-it! I have to look up the spelling every time I use it. (Which is important when common names vary, especially worldwide.) Wish they’d stuck with ‘Aster’!
Ann Mackay
August 13, 2023 at 6:17 AM
You’ve read my mind. I’d thought about including a line in my text about the difficulty of remembering which vowels in Symphyotrichum are a y and which are an i. I think I’ve got it down now, but if I don’t use the word for a while I’ll probably have to look it up the next time I want to use it.
Steve Schwartzman
August 13, 2023 at 8:45 AM
This was one of the first scientific names I was able to memorize, because of the parallel rhythms in the two words. And, it’s one of my favorite asters. It’s quite common at the San Bernard refuge, and I’ve found it at Brazoria. I really ought to get myself down there and see if they’re in bloom now. They used to grow at the nearby Dudney nature center, but that place has been closed for ‘improvements’ for months now, and isn’t scheduled to reopen until September or so. Given the heavy equipment I’ve seen in there, I’m a little uncertain what’s happening. I fear ‘nature’ will give way to bicycle/stroller paths and picnic shelters.
shoreacres
August 13, 2023 at 8:44 AM
I’m glad you pointed out the matching rhythm in the genus and species names. What I don’t know is whether the ch in the genus name gets pronounced like a ch or like a k. My guess is that some botanists say one and others the other.
From what you say, it’s time indeed to hie thee down to San Bernard and Brazoria for updated views of your favorite aster. Good luck with the Dudney surviving the alleged “improvements.”
Steve Schwartzman
August 13, 2023 at 10:43 AM
Maybe you can find a pig and offer it a bunch of flowers to assess if there is any truth in the plant’s Spanish name.
And someone seems genuinely concerned about your health. If I remember correctly, your spam folder included similar advice before: “Breathing in and out several times a day improves your life immensely.”
tanjabrittonwriter
August 13, 2023 at 8:47 PM
Good memory: yes, that advice about breathing had been offered before. I’ve followed it assiduously.
As for the proposed experiment, I’ll leave it to someone more animalistically enterprising than I am.
Steve Schwartzman
August 13, 2023 at 9:30 PM