Flora of North America species comparison

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Ionactis linariifolia

Ionactis caelestis

aster à feuilles de linaires, flax-leaf ankle-aster, flax-leaf stiff-aster, flaxleaf aster, flaxleaf whitetop or aster

aster, Spring Mountain ankle-aster, Spring Mountain aster
Habit Plants 10–50(–70) cm (commonly cespitose; rhizomes compact, crownlike, woody, fibrous-rooted). Plants 12–25 cm (with multicipital crowns, not cespitose; taproots thick, woody).
Stems

proximally herbaceous or slightly woody, eglandular.

strongly woody proximally, glandular.
Leaves

separated by evident internodes;

blades uniform, linear to narrowly oblong or oblanceolate, 12–40 mm, margins green, faces glabrous, eglandular.

proximal and mid separated by evident internodes;

blades oblong-ovate, 4–6 mm, distal much reduced, margins green, faces hispidulous, sessile- to stipitate-glandular.
Involucres

6–9 mm.

6.5–7 mm.
Disc florets

bisexual, fertile;

corollas (4.5–)5–7 mm.

functionally staminate (with sterile ovaries);

corollas 4–4.5 mm.
Heads

usually in loose, corymbiform arrays, sometimes borne singly.

borne singly or in loose, corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

(2.5–)3.5–4 mm, eglandular.

2.5–2.8 mm, faces eglandular.
2n

= 18.

= 18.

Ionactis linariifolia

Ionactis caelestis
Phenology Flowering (Jun–)Sep–Nov. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Sandy habitats, often seeps or other moist sites, commonly in longleaf pine communities along Gulf Coast, or inland sites of rocky hills, ridges, bluffs, sometimes in clay, in oak pine woods, sandy cracks and ledges of acid rocks in stream falls or rapids, open jackpine stands on sand Crevices of sparsely vegetated sandstone, areas of Pinus monophylla, Pinus ponderosa and Arctostaphylos pungens
Elevation 5–800(–900) m (0–2600(–3000) ft) 2000–2100 m (6600–6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ionactis linariifolia was noted by M. L. Fernald (1950) to occur in “s. Minn.”; G. B. Ownbey and T. Morley (1991) did not include it for Minnesota.

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

Of conservation concern.

Ionactis caelestis is known from a single population in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area of the Spring Mountains, Clark County.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 83. FNA vol. 20, p. 83.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Ionactis Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Ionactis
Sibling taxa
I. alpina, I. caelestis, I. elegans, I. stenomeres
I. alpina, I. elegans, I. linariifolia, I. stenomeres
Synonyms Aster linariifolius, Aster linariifolius var. victorinii
Name authority (Linnaeus) Greene: Pittonia 3: 245. (1897) P. J. Leary & G. L. Nesom: Brittonia 44: 247. (1992)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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