Smooth Blue Aster

Smooth Blue Aster flower sparkling with beads of morning dew.

Morning Jewels
A cluster of Smooth Blue Aster flowers at several stages of opening.

Five Notes in Sequence
Close view of a blue-violet Smooth Blue Aster flower with a crab spider disguised as dew.

Concealed as Dew

Symphyotrichum laeve

For identification, habitat, and natural-history details, see the Symphyotrichum laeve species page in the Field Notes section. For additional photographs of the plant in its natural setting, see the Smooth Blue Aster — Photographic Sequence page in the Field Notes section.

Smooth Blue Aster flower sparkling with beads of morning dew.

Morning Jewels
Dew catches the first light along the petals of a Smooth Blue Aster.
D79A5419 • Size: 5500 x 3667

A cluster of Smooth Blue Aster flowers at several stages of opening.

Five Notes in Sequence
Morning dew highlights different stages of bloom, from tightly closed buds to aging disks.
E22A9505-16 • Size: 5000 x 3333

Close view of a blue-violet Smooth Blue Aster flower with a crab spider disguised as dew.

Concealed as Dew
A crab spider, nearly indistinguishable from the droplets, waits against the colorful face of the aster.
E22A9503 • Size: 2059 x 1373