January 2008

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=101 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="061785a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Ohio Prairie Association</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ohio Prairie Association"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="may_2008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May 2008">May 2008</A>   |   <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="April 2008">April 2008</A>   |   <A HREF="march_2008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March 2008">March 2008</A>   |   <A HREF="february_2008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="February 2008">February 2008</A>   |   <B>January 2008</B>   |   <A HREF="little_bluestem_prairie_gras.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="December 2007">December 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="november_207.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November 2007">November 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="october_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="October 2007">October 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="prai.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September 2007">September 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="august_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="August 2007">August 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="june_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July 2007">July 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="june_200771.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="June 2007">June 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="may_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May 2007">May 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="april_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="April 2007">April 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="march_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March 2007">March 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="polygala_sanquinea.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="February 2007">February 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="january_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January 2007">January 2007</A>   |   <A HREF="december_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="December 2006">December 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="novermber_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November 2006">November 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="october_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="October 2006">October 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="september_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="September 2006">September 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="august_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="August 2006">August 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="july_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July 2006">July 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="june_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="June 2006">June 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="may_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May 2006">May 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="april_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="April 2006">April 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March 2006">March 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="February 2006">February 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January 2006">January 2006</A>   |   <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="December 2005">December 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="November 2005">November 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="October 2005">October 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="August 2005">August 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July 2005">July 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="June 2005">June 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May 2005">May 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="April 2005">April 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March 2005">March 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="February 2005">February 2005</A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="January 2005">January 2005</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="062d2b03.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="2a9b9000.jpg" border=0 width="185" height="256" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=379 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>January 2008</I></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="20744400.jpg" border=0 width="68" height="64" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B><I><B>Ohio Prairie Plant of the Month</B></I></div> <div> <B>Species </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#339933" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> Common Name<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" > Heath Aster</FONT></div> <div> Latin Name:  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><I>Symphyotricum  ericoides </I></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >  [Pronounced:  "simm-fee-oh-TRY-kum  er-eh-KOH-ih-deez"]</FONT></div> <div>                                       This plant was formerly <I>Aster ericoides</I></div> <div> Type of Plant: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Arial" >Forb</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Identification Helps:<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > A very common white aster blooming from July through October. Three feet tall, brushy, with typical small, numerous daisy-like flowers.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#CC6633" FACE="Arial" >Similar Species: </FONT> Flat-top aster, <I>Doellingeria umbellata</I> (<I>Aster umbellatus</I>) has similar white daisy-like flowers, but only at the top of this much taller plant. </div> <bR> <div> Preferred Growing Conditions in the Wild:<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#339933" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Grows in many prairie and non-prairie soils and plant communities. </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Seasons of Growth and Bloom: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Blooms from July through October.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Natural Distribution in Ohio:<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#339933" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Heath aster grows commonly and in many habitats in all of Ohio's counties. </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Description and General Information: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#330000" FACE="Arial" >This small, dense white aster is not restricted to prairies. It grows in open woods, ditches, and other sunny, moist habitats. It is more common in young, not fully established prairies.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> It should be noted that the common name, "Aster," is no longer a part of any scientific name of any native plant in North America. Until recently, the formal name of this species was<I> Aster ericoides. </I>But modern genetic studies have shown that none of the native "asters" are really closely related to the authentic asters of Eurasia. Consequently, all of the native asters have been placed in new genera, in this case, <I>Symphyotricum</I><I>. </I></div> <bR> <div> The common name, "aster," has been retained however. </div> </td> </tr></table></body>