Aster alpinus, the alpine aster or blue alpine daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the mountains of Europe (including the Alps) and Asia. The genus Aster once contained nearly 600 species in Eurasia and North America, but after morphologic and molecular research on the genus during the 1990s, it was decided that the North American species are better treated in a series of other related genera. After this split there are roughly 180 species within the genus, all but one being confined to Eurasia. The name Aster comes from the Ancient Greek word aster meaning “star”, referring to the shape of the flower head. This herbaceous perennial has purple, pink, white or blue flowers in summer. The Latin specific epithet alpinus means alpine and from high mountains above the timber line.
