Aster Amellus

Aster amellus reaches on average a height of 20–50 centimetres (7.9–19.7 in). The stem is erect and branched, the leaves are dark green. The basal leaves are obovate and petiolated, the cauline ones are alternate and sessile, increasingly narrower and lanceolate. The flowers are lilac. The flowering period extends from July through October. The hermaphroditic flowers are either self-fertilized (autogamy) or pollinated by insects (entomogamy). The seeds are an achene that ripens in October.

This plant is present on the European mountains from the Pyrenees and the Alps to the Carpathians. Outside Europe it is located in western Asia (Turkey), the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia (Kazakhstan). Asters are valued in the garden for the fact that they provide late summer and autumn colour in shades of blue, pink and white. This species has several cultivars of ornamental garden use.

Aster, or Michaelmas Daisy grows in abundance on Anarchist Mountain, near Osoyoos at 3000' and in other places in the South Okanagan valley in British Columbia (Canada) on dry land and pasture. The mountain can be roughly two weeks to a month later than the valley bottom (lake level); ten degrees cooler in summer heat and warmer in winter, with good snow cover, hence soil moisture available. The typical habitat is rocky limy areas, the edges of the bushes and copses, but also the sub-alpine meadows, marshy places and lake sides. It prefers calcareous and slightly dry substrate with basic pH and low nutritional value, at an altitude of 0–800 metres (0–2,625 ft) above sea level.

A Poppy is a Flowering Plant

A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colorful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, produces edible seeds and is also the source of the crude drug opium which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and a source of narcotic, medicinal and recreational drugs. 

The flowers of most poppy species are attractive and are widely cultivated as annual or perennial ornamental plants. This has resulted in a number of commercially important cultivars, such as the Shirley poppy, a cultivar of Papaver rhoeas and semi-double or double (flore plena) forms of the opium poppy Papaver somniferum and oriental poppy (Papaver orientale). Poppies of several other genera are also cultivated in gardens. A few species have other uses, principally as sources of drugs and foods. The opium poppy is widely cultivated and its worldwide production is monitored by international agencies. It is used for production of dried latex and opium, the principal precursor of narcotic and analgesic opiates such as morphine, heroin and codeine. Poppy seeds are rich in oil, carbohydrates, calcium, and protein. Poppy oil is often used as cooking oil, salad dressing oil, or in products such as margarine.