as|ter

as|ter «AS tuhr», noun.

1. a) a common plant having daisylike flowers with white, pink, blue, or purple petals around a yellow center. b) its flower. Asters belong to the composite family. Some asters are very small; others are large with many petals.

2. any plant or flower like this of other genera of the composite family. China asters look much like small chrysanthemums.

3. Biology. one of two star-shaped structures found in a cell during mitosis; astrosphere. An aster consists of achromatic fibers radiating from around the centrosphere (containing the centrosome).

╂[< Latin aster < Greek ast star]