Symphyotrichum depauperatum |
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serpentine aster, starved aster |
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Habit | Perennials, 20–50 cm, colonial or cespitose; branched rhizomatous. |
Stems | 1–3+, erect (straight, brittle), glabrate. |
Leaves | thin, margins ciliate, abaxial faces glabrous or glabrate, adaxial sparsely strigose; basal withering by flowering (new rosettes developing at flowering), sessile, blades lanceolate to oblanceolate or spatulate, 20–40+ × 3–5+ mm, bases attenuate, margins sparsely serrate to subentire, strigose-ciliate, apices acute to obtuse; proximal cauline usually withering by flowering, sessile, blades linear-oblanceolate, ca. 30 × 2 mm, bases tapering, margins entire, scabrous, apices acute; distal sometimes withering by flowering, sessile, blades linear, 10–30 × 1.5–5 mm, reduced distally, bases cuneate or not tapering, margins entire, apices acute, ± mucronulate. |
Peduncles | long, gradually reduced distally on branches, glabrous or glabrate, bracts 3–17+, linear, mucronate. |
Involucres | cylindro-campanulate, (3.2–) 3.4–4 (–4.3) mm. |
Ray florets | 7–14; corollas usually white, seldom pink, laminae (3–)3.8–5.4(–6.2) × 0.5–1.1 mm. |
Disc florets | 7–17; corollas yellow becoming brown, (2.2–)2.5–2.9(–3.1) mm, tubes shorter than narrowly funnelform throats, lobes lanceolate, 0.3–0.6(–0.9) mm. |
Phyllaries | in 3–5 series, oblong-lanceolate, unequal, bases indurate 1/2–3/4, margins narrowly scarious, slightly or not erose, sparsely ciliolate or not distally, green zones lanceolate, apices acute, involute, slightly spreading, faces glabrous. |
Heads | in open, wide, paniculiform arrays, branches arching, sometimes ± secund, abundantly bracteate. |
Cypselae | yellowish brown, obovoid, ± compressed, ± 1.2–1.3 mm, 3–4-nerved, faces sparsely to moderately strigillose; pappi white (yellowish), 2.4–3.3 mm. |
2n | = 16. |
Symphyotrichum depauperatum |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. |
Habitat | Serpentine or diabasic soils |
Elevation | 400–1000 m (1300–3300 ft) |
Distribution |
MD; NC; PA |
Discussion | Of conservation concern. Symphyotrichum depauperatum is federally listed in the United States. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 510. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Aster depauperatus, Aster ericoides var. depauperatus, Aster ericoides var. pusillus, Aster parviceps var. pusillus, Aster pilosus var. pusillus |
Name authority | (Fernald) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 279. (1995) |
Web links |