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| Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower) |
| Flowers — color: violet, size: 1/2", type: daisy |
| color | |
| style | daisy |
California Aster has a daisy-like flower, 1/2–3/4" wide. Several dozen violet ray florets provide the 'petals'. A thin yellow stamen extends from the mouth of the ray floret and splits into two tips. The yellow center holds 120 tiny disk disk florets that bloom as an inverted bell from the outside in. A yellow sexual part entends above the petals of the disk florets.
Each stem holds a panicle, a loosely branched cluster where each branch holds several buds. Smaller stems, presumably younger plants, hold a single bloom. Taller stems reach up to 6 feet and may develop dozens of blooms. Flowers dry to make an open, flat cluster of tiny black seeds with fluff for dispersal.
The asters in my garden bloom very late in season [September–October]. I have seen this blooming on VSFB in January and March, so there is a lot of variability. Two other plants in our area have similar flowers: leafy fleabane, similar size but many more florets, and common sandaster, with smaller flowers.
Habit:
California Aster is a perennial herb. Each spring a vertical clump of leaves appears next to last year's flower stem. Each leaf is lance-shaped, narrow at the base, widening near the end, then finishing with a point. Some leaves reach 12" long. Eventually a woody stem develops with narrower leaves attached alternately, their bases directly attached to the stem.
The scientific name suggests an origin in Chile, but this aster is native from Oregon to Baja. California aster likes full sun or part shade, can tolerate irrigation, but survives without it.
The common name 'California Aster' has also been used for another local plant, the sandaster. The sandaster has much smaller leaves and blooms, and the stem branches much more.
Observations:
I found these asters in my front yard. I presume these were a horticultural donation by the wildlife. I once thought these plants were weeds. One summer, I stopped mowing them, and got a nice crop of wildflowers in September. My bed of asters is now getting larger every year.