Lowry's Aster,  Symphyotrichum lowrienaum
(formerly Aster lowrieanus  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 to arrowhead-shaped, toothed, with a winged stalk and a smooth, almost greasy surface.  Blooms in late fall.

Native.  Partially open woods and hillsides in the Park.

There are many asters in the Park, and they are hard to tell apart; however, Lowry's aster is fairly distinctive because of its more-or-less heart-shaped leaves with winged stalks.  Wavy-leaved aster (S. undulatum) also has a winged stalk and similar leaves, but the wing on the stalk is conspicuously widened at the base where the stalk joins the stem.  Heart-leaved aster (S. cordifolium) has similar flowers and leaves, but the leafstalks are not winged. Schreber's aster (Eurybia schreberi) also has simlar leaves, but the flowers are white and the leafstalks not winged