Burke: Symphyotrichum foliaceum vs. Symphyotrichum spathulatum

	Symphyotrichum foliaceum	Symphyotrichum spathulatum
	alpine leafybract aster, Canby's leafybract aster, Cusick's American aster, Cusick's aster, Henderson's aster, Kootenai aster, leafy aster, leafy-bracted aster, Parry's aster	western aster, western mountain aster
Habit	Fibrous-rooted perennial from a creeping rhizome, highly variable in size, the herbage glabrous or soft-pubescent.	Fibrous-rooted perennial from a creeping rhizome, the stems 2-10 dm. tall.
Leaves	Leaves entire, the lower oblanceolate to obovate, petiolate, often deciduous; other leaves lanceolate to ovate, sessile, 5-12 cm. long and 1-4 cm. wide, 3.5-7 times as long as wide.	Leaves glabrous and entire, the lower ones oblanceolate and petiolate, the others narrower and sessile, 3-15 cm. long and 3-10 mm. wide.
Flowers	Heads 1-many in a flat-topped inflorescence; involucre bracts leafy, imbricate, white-margined at the base; disk flowers numerous, yellow; rays 15-60, 1-2 cm. long, pistillate, rose-purple to blue or violet; pappus of numerous capillary bristles, white or tawny.	Heads 1-many in a flat-topped inflorescence; involucre 5-7 mm. high, its bracts usually pointed, narrow, linear or linear-oblong, green to the base and minutely purple-tipped; disk flowers numerous, yellow; rays 20-50, blue or violet, 6-15 mm. long; pappus of numerous capillary bristles.
Fruits	Fruit an achene.	Achenes hairy.

	Symphyotrichum foliaceum	Symphyotrichum spathulatum
Flowering time	July-September	July-September
Habitat	Open, usually moist areas, low to high elevations in the mountains.	Meadows and forest openings, from middle elevations to the subalpine.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	S. ×amethystinum, S. ascendens, S. boreale, S. bracteolatum, S. campestre, S. chilense, S. ciliatum, S. ×columbianum, S. ericoides, S. frondosum, S. hallii, S. jessicae, S. laeve, S. lanceolatum, S. novae-angliae, S. pilosum, S. spathulatum, S. subspicatum	S. ×amethystinum, S. ascendens, S. boreale, S. bracteolatum, S. campestre, S. chilense, S. ciliatum, S. ×columbianum, S. ericoides, S. foliaceum, S. frondosum, S. hallii, S. jessicae, S. laeve, S. lanceolatum, S. novae-angliae, S. pilosum, S. subspicatum
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Symphyotrichum foliaceum

Symphyotrichum spathulatum

alpine leafybract aster, Canby's leafybract aster, Cusick's American aster, Cusick's aster, Henderson's aster, Kootenai aster, leafy aster, leafy-bracted aster, Parry's aster

western aster, western mountain aster

Habit

Fibrous-rooted perennial from a creeping rhizome, highly variable in size, the herbage glabrous or soft-pubescent.

Fibrous-rooted perennial from a creeping rhizome, the stems 2-10 dm. tall.

Leaves

Leaves entire, the lower oblanceolate to obovate, petiolate, often deciduous; other leaves lanceolate to ovate, sessile, 5-12 cm. long and 1-4 cm. wide, 3.5-7 times as long as wide.

Leaves glabrous and entire, the lower ones oblanceolate and petiolate, the others narrower and sessile, 3-15 cm. long and 3-10 mm. wide.

Flowers

Heads 1-many in a flat-topped inflorescence;

involucre bracts leafy, imbricate, white-margined at the base;

disk flowers numerous, yellow;

rays 15-60, 1-2 cm. long, pistillate, rose-purple to blue or violet;

pappus of numerous capillary bristles, white or tawny.

Heads 1-many in a flat-topped inflorescence;

involucre 5-7 mm. high, its bracts usually pointed, narrow, linear or linear-oblong, green to the base and minutely purple-tipped;

disk flowers numerous, yellow;

rays 20-50, blue or violet, 6-15 mm. long;

pappus of numerous capillary bristles.