Aster Seedheads

Asters are dainty flowers that resemble daisies. Flowers that are just the right size for a dollhouse. They generally bloom in late summer into autumn.

I love the ones that are lavender, blooming as the trees are beginning to change color. Blooming all along the dirt road coming up my mountain. There’s also one that has a deeper purple color with petals that are just a bit longer than I usually see. Late Purple Aster (Symphyotrichum patens). These are a bit more difficult to find but worth the search.

But I’m telling you all this to tell you about the seeds. After the diminutive bloom comes the seed. Changing from Daisy-like to Dandelion-like.

Every little seed has an attachment much like a single barb of a bird’s feather. Nearly weightless and ready to take flight with the slightest breeze. Makes me think of that Dandelion’s Wishing Flower. Blow on it and make a wish.

Long-Bracted Tickseed Sunflower

All along the roadsides. Rich warm yellow greets the cars and trucks that pass. Long-bracted Tickseed Sunflower (Biden polylepis). It’s native to eastern and central United States and south-central Canada.

The leaves of Long-Bracted Tickseed Sunflower are quite distinctive, with sharply toothed margin, opposite and pinnately compound.

These flowers bloom from late summer to early fall. Attracting all sorts of insects — bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, skippers, beetles and more. Along with these Tickseed Sunflowers on the roadsides there are other shining yellow blooms. Other species that I’ll write about one day soon.