Dead Chief Trail Purple Smooth Aster
Smooth Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve (Aster laevis)
• Family: Aster (Asteraceae)
• Habitat: open woods
• Height: 1-3 feet
• Flower size: flower around 1 inch across
• Flower color: purple ray (petals) flowers around a yellow disk
• Flowering time: Autumn to Early Winter (Hot Springs, AR)
• Origin: native
Although I spotted my first Smooth Aster along the Dead Chief Trail on Hot Springs Mountain the majority of my discoveries were made on the eastern slopes of West Mountain. Smooth Asters are always a welcome site as the green of summer fades to colorful Autumn and the leaves begin to fall. These purple beauties begin to paint the trail edges as the weather begins to cool.
Field Notes: Wildflower locations in the park appear to change based on seasonal moisture levels and canopy cover. This coming autumn they may appear more widely across the park as we had greater rain fall this past spring. Winter leveled several Trees this year opening the Forest to more light in places once sheltered from the sun creating more spots for some species of Wildflowers to bloom. Warmer winter allowed Wildflowers to bloom earlier and heavy spring rains brought blossoms that did not appear the prior year. Summer heat in the park like the spring arrived 2 weeks earlier than last year, nearly 4 weeks ahead of the standard weather patterns in the park. Hot Springs National Park is heating up and changing both the flora and fauna cycles.
Have a Lovely Day in Natures Scared Spaces,
Lee
Wildflower Gifts by Lee Hiller Wildflower Photography Gifts & Photography Wildflower Gifts
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West Mountain Top Trail Smooth Aster
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West Mountain Top Trail Smooth Aster
West Mountain Top Trail Smooth Aster
Hike Our Planet - @HikeOurPlanet 
I love these flowers a lot… and even the HTML!! 🙂 Love ur DH Rick x0x0x
I especially like the last (and next-to-last) photograph of an aster because of the warm tones out of focus in the background; they harmonize with the yellow disk of the aster and contrast with the violet-tinged rays and green stem.
I’m glad to see someone else promoting native plants.
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com
Thank You Steve :o) I enjoyed you blog page and photographs.
I take a lot of Wildflower photographs… all different styles. Here are some of my favorites
http://www.redbubble.com/people/leehiller/collections/1703-wildflowers
Kindest Thoughts and Wishes,
Lee
The array of thumbnails that your link takes people to is so richly colorful. I appreciate the amount of text that accompanies each larger image, so that viewers can learn something about the flowers in addition to appreciating your fine photographs of them.
Thank You Steve, I have become a Wildflower hunter :o) I can’t wait to find the next one… I am sure you know the joy for discovery. If you search wildflower on my blog you will find many more images than the ones I posted on redbuble. I have en ever evolving style 🙂
Kindest Thoughts and Wishes,
Lee