Eurybia merita |
Eurybia radulina |
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arctic aster, arctic wood-aster, subalpine aster |
rough-leaf aster, rough-leaf wood-aster |
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Habit | Plants (2–)10–50 cm, clonal and clumped, eglandular; rhizomes creeping to ascending, long or short, scaly, woody with age. | Plants 10–70 cm, laxly cespitose (grayish green), eglandular; rhizomes elongate, slender, woody. |
Stems | 1–3+, usually ascending, sometimes decumbent, purplish, occasionally branched basally, sparsely villosulous, densely so distally. |
1–3, ascending to erect, often purple, simple, flexuous, proximally glabrescent or sparsely villous, distally ± densely villous. |
Leaves | cauline (dark green abaxially, paler bluish green adaxially) firm, ± markedly veined, margins entire or serrulate, scabrous to strigoso-ciliate, teeth mucronate, slightly indurate, apices obtuse to acute, mucronate, abaxial faces glabrescent to sparsely villous along veins, adaxial glabrescent or sparsely (proximal) to ± densely (distal) villoso-strigose or strigose; proximalmost withering by flowering; proximal narrowly winged-petiolate or sessile, petiole bases sheathing, blades spatulate to obovate or oblanceolate, 10–43 × 2–16 mm, smaller than mid, bases attenuate to cuneate, subclasping (if sessile); mid sessile, blades lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate to oblanceolate, narrowly obovate, or spatulate, 20–80 × 4–35 mm, gradually reduced distally, bases rounded or subauriculate to widely attenuate or cuneate; distal (arrays) sessile, lanceolate to lance-ovate or elliptic to oblanceolate, 6–52 × 1–17 mm, rapidly reduced distally, margins often slightly purplish. |
cauline, firm, margins slightly revolute, coarsely serrate or (distal) entire, scabrous to strigoso-ciliate, teeth mucronate, ± markedly veined, apices mucronate, abaxial faces scabrous, adaxial scabroso-strigose; proximal mostly withering by flowering, petioles winged, shorter than blades, bases clasping, blades elliptic to obovate 12–45+ × 7–20+ mm, smaller than mid, apices obtuse; mid narrowly winged-petiolate (petioles short with ± clasping bases), distally subpetiolate or sessile, blades ovate or elliptic to broadly oblanceolate or obovate, 32–85(–130) × 4–40 mm, gradually reduced distally, bases usually attenuate, sometimes cuneate, apices obtuse to acute; distal (arrays) oblanceolate to lanceolate, 5–28 × 1–8 mm, more sharply reduced. |
Peduncles | villosulous; bracts 0–3, lanceolate to spatulate, leaflike to distally phyllary-like (bases indurate, margins purplish), mostly foliaceous. |
densely villous; bracts 0–1, scabroso-strigose. |
Involucres | campanulate, 6–9 mm, shorter than pappi. |
campanulate, 6–9 mm, shorter than pappi. |
Ray florets | (10–)14–32; corollas purple to violet, 7–12(–15) × 1–1.7 mm. |
10–15; corollas white to sometimes pale violet or purple, 8.5–11(–13) × 1.3–2.3 mm. |
Disc florets | 30–60; corollas pale to cream-yellow, lobes pink-tinged, 5–7.6 mm, slightly ampliate, tubes equaling or slightly longer than funnelform throats, lobes erect, triangular, 0.6–1.3 mm. |
30–70; corollas yellow becoming purple- or pinkish-tinged, 6–7(–8) mm, ± ampliate, tubes equaling to longer than funnelform-campanulate throats, lobes usually erect, sometimes ± spreading, lanceolate, 1–1.3 mm. |
Phyllaries | 30–65 in 4–5 series, often purplish, oblong or lance-oblong (outer) to lance-linear or linear (inner), unequal, membranous, bases indurate, rounded, dark green zones diffusely diamond-shaped to lanceolate in distal 1/3–2/3 (outer, seldom foliaceous) to 1/5 or none (inner), margins ± dark purple, narrowly scarious, erose, densely villoso-ciliate, apices appressed or sometimes loose and ± squarrose, acute to obtuse, often apiculate, faces usually villous, rarely glabrous. |
38–62 in 4–5 series, midnerves slightly raised (outer), oblong (outer) to lanceolate-linear or linear (inner), unequal, membranous, bases indurate, ± rounded, green zones to scarious margins in distal 1/3–1/2 (outer; seldom ± wholly foliaceous) to 1/5 or none (inner), margins often purple, hyaline, narrowly scarious, erose, densely villoso-ciliate, apices appressed, sometimes purplish-tinged, usually acute, sometimes obtuse, adaxial faces villous. |
Heads | (1–)5–50, usually in open to compact, corymbiform arrays, rarely borne singly. |
5–30+ in flat-topped, corymbiform arrays. |
Cypselae | brownish, fusiform-obconic, slightly compressed, ca. 3.4 mm, ribs 8–10 (pale, strong), strigillose; pappi of cinnamon to yellowish bristles 5–6 mm, longer than disc corollas. |
tawny, fusiform, 3–3.5 mm, slightly compressed, ribs 7–9 (brown, translucent), faces strigillose; pappi of tawny bristles 2.7–3 mm, ± equaling disc corollas. |
2n | = 36. |
= 18, 27. |
Eurybia merita |
Eurybia radulina |
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Phenology | Flowering late summer. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Open, mesic or dry, rocky areas and woods, clearings, burnt areas, creek banks (rocky, sandy, or gravelly), mostly at subalpine level in mountains, lower in north, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine or spruce forests, subalpine meadows | Dry rock outcrops, edges of forests, open forests, mostly on slopes, foothill oak woodlands, oak, oak-fir, yellow pine forests |
Elevation | 100–3200 m (300–10500 ft) | (10–)100–1600 m ((0–)300–5200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; ID; MT; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; BC
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CA; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | Eurybia merita occurs mainly from the Interior Mountains and Plateaus system to the Rocky Mountains, and is disjunct to the Black Hills of South Dakota. It reaches California in Siskyou County; the species has been overlooked in this state (e.g., G. A. Allen 1993) because of misidentification with E. radulina. S. L. Welsh et al. (1987) reported E. sibirica from the Uinta Mountains of Utah (Summit County), which A. Cronquist (1994) attributed to var. merita. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Eurybia radulina is confined mostly west of the Cascades, from southern Vancouver Island (British Columbia) to the southern Coast Ranges, north Channel Islands, and central Sierra Nevada in California. It often is confused with E. merita in the western, coastal states where both are found, though populations are rarely if ever sympatric, the former apparently thriving at lower elevations than the latter. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 370. | FNA vol. 20, p. 369. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Eurybia | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Eurybia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Aster meritus, Aster richardsonii var. meritus, Aster sibiricus var. meritus | Aster radulinus, Aster eliasii, Weberaster radulinus |
Name authority | (A. Nelson) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 260. (1995) | (A. Gray) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 261. (1995) |
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