Heart-Leaved Aster,  Symphyotrichum cordifolium
(formerly Aster cordifolius  what happened?)
Asteraceae or Sunflower Family

Herb with large clusters of small flowers.  Each "flower" is really a head 1/2 to 5/8 inch wide containing a center of tiny yellow disc flowers surrounded by about a half dozen pale blue-violet ray flowers.  Leaves are heart-shaped and coarsely toothed, with a slender stalk.  Blooms in late fall.

Native.  Very common along trails and paths in the Park.

There are many asters in the Park, and they are hard to tell apart. Schreber's aster (Eurybia schreberi) isprobably most similar to heart-leaved, but the flowers are white.   Lowry's aster (S. lowrieanum) has similar flowers and heart-shaped toothed leaves, but the leafstalks have wings.  Wavy-leaved aster (S. undulatum) has similar flowers and heart-shaped leaves, but it too has a winged leafstalk and the leaves have no or few teeth..

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