About Asters
The plants commonly called "Asters" are a large group. Gray's New Manual of Botany lists almost sixty varieties in the genus Aster in the northeastern United States, and at least twenty different Asters are to be found in Jackson Park. Some are striking in appearance and easily identified. Positive identification of others, however, particularly some of the many white varieties, is difficult, partly because different species are similar, and partly because they sometimes hybridize, creating intermediate forms.
To complicate matters further, taxonimists have since the 1990s reclassified many members of the vast former genus Aster (which included roughly 600 species in North America and Eurasia) into several new groups, so that virtually all American 'Asters' now belong to other genera, especially Symphyotrichum (derived from Greek meaning something like 'confluence of hair,' I suppose in reference to the asters' many fine petals). Regardless of their new classification, however, they will doubtless continue to be commonly called simply 'Asters.'
To view specific species, click on the links below.