Aster (flower)
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The genus Aster includes some 600 species of widely distributed flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Aster comes from the Greek word for "star", and refers to the shape of the flower head. Many of the species are popular garden plants because of their showy flower heads. Aster species are used as food plants by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera which feed on Aster.
The genus Aster is now generally restricted to the Old World species, with Aster amellus being the type species of the genus (and of the family Asteraceae). The New World species have now been reclassified in the genera Almutaster, Canadanthus, Doellingeria, Eucephalus, Eurybia, Ionactis, Oligoneuron, Oreostemma, Sericocarpus and Symphyotrichum (see : List of Aster synonyms), but are still widely referred to as "Asters" in the horticultural trades.
Some common species are:
- Aster alpinus
- Aster amellus ('European Michaelmas Daisy' or 'Italian Aster')
- Aster cordifolius ('Blue Wood Aster')
- Aster divaricatus ('White Wood Aster')
- Aster ericoides ('Heath Aster')
- Aster laevis
- Aster lateriflorus
- Aster novae-angliae ('New England Aster')
- Aster novi-belgii ('New York Aster')
- Aster pilosus ('Frost Aster')
- Aster pringlei
- Aster scaber
- Aster sibericus
- Aster tataricus
- Aster tongolensis
- Aster tripolium ('Sea Aster')
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