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thick-stem aster

slender aster

Habit Plants 15–70 cm, usually in clumps, sometimes in large clones, densely long-stipitate-glandular distally; woody, branched, thick, usually short rhizomes or short caudices. Plants 15–50(–70) cm, in clumps, eglandular; caudices thickened, woody, ovoid to spheric.
Stems

1–3+, straight, stout, glabrous or sparsely hispid proximally, distally ± hispido-villous.

1–8+, erect, simple, strict, glabrescent, usually ± densely villous distally.

Leaves

basal and cauline, firm, margins entire, strigoso-ciliate, distal also stipitate-glandular, apices mucronate, faces glabrous or glabrescent to ± densely hispid or strigose (then ± scabrous), particularly on veins, midveins sometimes notably hispido-villous, proximally ± sparsely, distally ± densely stipitate-glandular;

basal and proximal cauline long-petiolate (to 100+ mm), petioles ± broadly winged, bases sheathing or auriculate-clasping, blades ovate-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate, 33–180+ × 11–50 mm, bases attenuate, apices acute or obtuse to rounded;

mid sessile, blades oblong or oblanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate, or lance-ovate, 30–140 × 7–27 mm, gradually reduced distally, bases auriculate-clasping, apices usually acute, rarely obtuse;

distal (arrays) narrowly ovate to lanceolate, 9–50 × 3–20 mm.

basal and cauline, thick, firm (only midnerves conspicuous), margins entire or nearly so, indurate, scabrous, apices indurate, mucronate, faces scabrous (especially distal) to sometimes glabrous, adaxial sometimes villous (especially proximal) at least along midnerves;

basal often withering by flowering (bases sometimes marcescent), petioles erect, longer than blades, bases sheathing, winged, ciliate, blades narrowly elliptic to ovate or obovate, 20–70 × 8–20 mm, bases cuneate, margins sometimes crenulate-serrulate, teeth mucronate, apices obtuse to rounded;

cauline usually sessile, sometimes subsessile (ascending), lanceolate to oblanceolate, 15–80(–90) × 2.5–12 mm, bases sheathing to auriculate-clasping (distal), apices acute.

Peduncles

± densely long-stipitate-glandular;

bracts 0(–2), densely stipitate-glandular.

slender, villous;

bracts 1–2, often 1 near heads, leaflike (bases sometimes indurate and white as in phyllaries).

Involucres

campanulate, 8–14 mm, much shorter than pappi.

cylindro-campanulate, 6.5–9 mm, slightly shorter than pappi.

Ray florets

8–27;

corollas violet-purple, 10–15 × 1.2–2.2 mm.

(5–)8–14;

corollas blue-violet to rose-purple or bluish, often pale, 5–8(–10) × 1–1.8 mm.

Disc florets

20–50;

corollas pale yellow turning pinkish or purplish, 6–7.8 mm, slightly ampliate, tubes much shorter than cylindric to narrowly funnelform throats, lobes erect, lanceolate, 0.6–0.8 mm.

10–20;

corollas pale yellow, 5.5–6.2 mm, not ampliate, tubes longer than narrowly funnelform throats, lobes triangular, 0.65–0.9 mm.

Phyllaries

25–40 in 3–4 series, inner often purplish, oblong-lanceolate (outer) to linear-lanceolate (inner), ± unequal, membranous, bases pale, indurate, sometimes rounded (outer), distally foliaceous (3/4+ in outer, seldom to base, to 1/5 in inner) and wider than bases, margins narrowly scarious (non-foliaceous parts), purplish (at least inner), ciliate and/or stipitate-glandular (along foliaceous parts), apices squarrose, usually acute, sometimes acuminate, faces densely stipitate-glandular.

24–35 in 4–5 series, oblong (outer) to lanceolate (inner), unequal, coriaceous (outer) to membranous (inner), bases indurate, rounded (outer), margins hyaline, narrowly scarious, ± erose, ciliate (outer), apices reflexed, green (except innermost), purple-margined, less scarious, rounded or obtuse (outer) to acuminate (inner), mucronate, abaxial faces glabrous or obscurely puberulent, eglandular.

Heads

3–41+ in elongate, racemo-corymbiform arrays, branches ascending.

3–55+ in flat-topped, corymbiform arrays, branches ascending, slender.

Cypselae

greenish stramineous, fusiform-obconic, slightly compressed, 4.2–4.7 mm, ribs 7–10, faces ± densely hirtellous;

pappi of stramineous to tawny bristles 7–8 mm, ± equaling disc corollas.

stramineous, cylindro-obconic, 1.75–2.6 mm, ribs 9–12 (crowded), faces glabrate to strigillose;

pappi of tawny to cinnamon bristles 5.9–6.2 mm, equaling disc corollas.

2n

= 18.

= 18.

Eurybia integrifolia

Eurybia compacta

Phenology Flowering summer–early fall. Flowering midsummer–early fall.
Habitat Drier meadows, open, moist woodlands, in sedge-willow, sagebrush, Douglas fir, and spruce communities Dry, sandy places, dry to moist pinelands, oak-thickets, bogs, barrens
Elevation 1600–3200 m (5200–10500 ft) 0–200 m (0–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
DE; GA; MD; NC; NJ; SC; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eurybia integrifolia is found in mountain ranges bordering the Basin and Range Province, from the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges in the west to the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau in the east.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Eurybia compacta may be extirpated from much of its original range (Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, Virginia) and may now be of conservation concern. It is present on the Atlantic coastal plains and outer Piedmont. A. Cronquist (1980) stated that it approaches E. surculosa on one hand, and E. avita and E. paludosa on the other. This reflects the close affinity between sections Calliastrum and Heleastrum (see above). I have seen no voucher for the Alabama report.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 20, p. 368. FNA vol. 20, p. 377.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Eurybia Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Eurybia
Sibling taxa
E. avita, E. chlorolepis, E. compacta, E. conspicua, E. divaricata, E. eryngiifolia, E. furcata, E. hemispherica, E. jonesiae, E. macrophylla, E. merita, E. mirabilis, E. paludosa, E. radula, E. radulina, E. saxicastelli, E. schreberi, E. sibirica, E. spectabilis, E. spinulosa, E. surculosa, E. ×herveyi
E. avita, E. chlorolepis, E. conspicua, E. divaricata, E. eryngiifolia, E. furcata, E. hemispherica, E. integrifolia, E. jonesiae, E. macrophylla, E. merita, E. mirabilis, E. paludosa, E. radula, E. radulina, E. saxicastelli, E. schreberi, E. sibirica, E. spectabilis, E. spinulosa, E. surculosa, E. ×herveyi
Synonyms Aster integrifolius, Aster amplexifolius Aster gracilis, Aster surculosus var. gracilis
Name authority (Nuttall) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 260. (1995) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 259. (1995)
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