Drummond's aster, Symphyotrichum drummondii

Jusy another heartleaf aster, ho hum. No. Wait! It tries, but can't quite get there. The leaves are more like hearts without the indent. It was fun to eventually realize I was looking at a Michigan rarity that day in Indiana. And it makes an instructive image. Only the flower heads at the ends of branches were open at all. Asters do that, kind of blooming backward. Heads below thise will soon be open too. On this one only the ray flowers are fully deployed. The central disc flower have not yet opened far enough to show pistils and stamens. The five lobes now form little star shaped openings. Drummond's grows mostly in woods or at their edges in AL, AR, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, OH, OK PA, TN, TX, WI, and WV. Allen Co IN, 9/6/13.