Aster

Aster (Gr., 'a star,' from the form of the flowers), a genus of plants of the natural order Composite (q.v.) and sub-order Tubulifloræ. The genus contains a great number of species, both herbaceous and shrubby, and chiefly perennial, of which three-fourths are indigenous to North America, the remainder sparingly distributed over Europe and Northern Asia. One species only, A. tripolium, the Sea Starwort, is a native of Britain. It is common in salt marshes. A number of perennial species are in cultivation as garden-flowers, of which the New-England Aster (A. nove anglie) and the Michaelmas Daisy (A. tradescanti), both natives of North America, are perhaps the most common, and, with some of the other species, are prized as among the comparatively few flowers to be seen at that dull season when autumn is giving place to winter. But the best known and most valued of all the asters is the China Aster—A. (Callistephus) sinensis—a summer annual, of which many varieties are in cultivation, and new ones are continually introduced. It was brought from China to France by a missionary in the 18th century, but has since been much improved and varied by culture, and all its florets have been rendered ligulate. The varieties exhibit great diversities of form and colour. The plant delights in a rich free soil. In the northern parts of Britain, the seed is generally sown in April in a hot-bed, or in pots under a frame, and the young asters are planted out in the open air in May. They flower from July to the end of autumn, and contribute much to the liveness of the flower-garden.