Smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, previously aster laevis): makes a lovely show with lavender to purple flower heads more than an inch across. The plants grow 2 to 4 feet tall.

He verified it was the Smooth Blue Aster, which has been found in many eastern Alabama counties. "Usually you don't go out collecting your first time and find a rare plant," Spaulding said.

The smooth blue aster is a perennial and native to the U.S. Its root system spreads extensively from a rhizome. In ideal habitats it may stand 4 feet tall, but those that I first saw rarely ...