Symphyotrichum dumosum |
Symphyotrichum drummondii |
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bushy American-aster, bushy aster, rice button aster |
Drummond's aster |
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Habit | Perennials, (20–)30–100 cm, colonial or cespitose; usually long-rhizomatous, often thick, woody, sometimes short, or with short, stout caudices. | Perennials, 30–120 cm, cespitose; short-rhizomatous or with stout, often woody caudices. | ||||
Stems | 1–5+, erect (straight, often slender, brittle), densely or sparsely strigose to glabrescent or glabrate. |
1–5+, erect (straight, stout), glabrate or glabrescent, sparsely pilose, or hirsuto-pilose proximally, ± densely so distally. |
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Leaves | firm, margins entire to crenulate-serrate, recurved, scabrous, apices sharply white-mucronate, abaxial faces glabrous or glabrate to sparsely strigillose, adaxial glabrous or glabrate to submarginally scabrous (short-strigose), cauline withering by flowering (except on array branches), often with axillary leaf clusters; basal withering by flowering, petiolate, petioles winged, sheathing, strigose-ciliate, blades oblanceolate to spatulate (often declined), 8–50 × 3–15 mm, bases attenuate to cuneate, margins crenate-serrate, apices obtuse or rounded to ± acute; proximal cauline (mostly declined) subpetiolate (petioles widely winged, clasping) or sessile (then not or barely clasping), blades linear-oblanceolate, 25–120 × 1.5–9 mm, bases cuneate to slightly attenuate; distal (ascending or spreading) sessile, blades oblong or linear-lanceolate to linear, 2–45 × 0.5–4 mm, reduced distally (abruptly on branches), bases cuneate to rounded, not clasping, margins entire or serrate. |
(abaxially pale or grayish green, adaxially dark green) initially ± firm or membranous, becoming thicker, margins crenate-serrate to serrate, strigoso-ciliate to scabrous, apices acuminate to acute, mucronate, abaxial faces scabrous to densely piloso-strigose, more so on veins, adaxial scabrous to glabrate; basal withering by flowering, long-petiolate (petioles narrowly winged, sheathing, sometimes ciliate), blades ovate to ovate-oblong or -lanceolate to elliptic or suborbiculate, 10–85(–100) × 8–60 mm, bases deeply cordate to rounded or abruptly attenuate, margins crenate-serrate, apices usually rounded to obtuse, rarely acute; proximal cauline often withering by flowering, long-petiolate (petioles narrowly winged, more broadly so distally, ciliate), blades ovate or ovate-lanceolate, (25–)50–120(–150) × (15–)20–50(–65) mm, progressively to slightly reduced distally, bases deeply to shallowly cordate or rounded, margins crenate-serrate to sharply serrate; distal petiolate or subpetiolate or sessile, petioles broadly winged, blades ovate to ovate- or oblong-lanceolate, to oblong-elliptic or linear-lanceolate (4–)5–110 × 1–50 mm, reduced distally (sharply so on array branches in var. texanum), bases shallowly cordate or rounded to attenuate or cuneate (distally), margins crenate-serrate or -serrulate or entire. |
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Peduncles | slender, usually stiff (sometimes lax), (0.5–)1–5 cm (rarely subsessile), progressively reduced distally, usually not secund, sparsely strigillose or glabrous, bracts 5–16+, spreading to ascending, linear-oblong or -elliptic to subulate or linear, progressively reduced distally, grading into phyllaries. |
0, or 0.2–1.5(–4) cm, densely ascending- or appressed-bracteate, pilosulous, bracts 4–17+, lanceolate or subulate to linear-oblanceolate, distally grading into phyllaries, pilosulous or strigoso-ciliate. |
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Involucres | cylindro-campanulate, (3–)4.5–6.3 mm. |
campanulate, (3.5–)4.5–6(–6.5) mm. |
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Ray florets | 15–33; corollas pale blue, pink, or lavender to white, laminae (4–)5–7(–8) × 1–1.7 mm. |
(8–)10–15(—20); corollas usually bright blue to purple or lavender, sometimes white, laminae (5–)7–10(–12) × 1–1.8 mm. |
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Disc florets | 15–30; corollas cream to pale yellow turning pink, 3.5–4.5 mm, tubes shorter than to equal to narrowly funnelform throats, lobes lanceolate, (0.4–)0.6–1.1 mm. |
(10–)13–15(–22); corollas cream to yellow, becoming deep purple or reddish purple, 3.5–4.5(–5) mm, tubes shorter than funnelform to cylindric throats, lobes triangular to lanceolate, 0.4–0.7 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 4–6 series, appressed or slightly spreading, oblong-oblanceolate (outer) to linear-oblanceolate or linear (innermost), strongly unequal, bases indurate (1/2–)2/3–4/5, margins hyaline, scarious, erose, distally ciliolate, green zones oblanceolate to elliptic (subapical), apices acute to obtuse (scarious), sometimes faintly reddish, mucronulate, faces usually glabrous, sometimes glabrate. |
in 4–5 series, subulate or lanceolate (outermost) to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, unequal, bases indurate 1/4–3/4, margins narrowly scarious proximally, hyaline, ciliate, bodies sometimes green to margins distally, green zones lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, apices acute to acuminate or long-acuminate, tips often purple, sometimes involute, mucronulate, faces glabrous. |
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Heads | in remote, diffuse, open, paniculiform arrays, branches numerous, ascending to stiffly ascending, secondary ones stiff, racemiform (usually not secund). |
in open, paniculiform arrays, branches ascending to divaricate, often densely racemiform or ± paniculiform (lateral ones open, racemiform) to subsecund, ± stiff to lax, long to relatively short, ± closely to ± remotely leafy, branch leaves progressively or ± abruptly reduced distally. |
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Cypselae | pink or stramineous with pink streaks, or gray (± dark, nerves stramineous), oblong-obovoid, sometimes ± compressed, 1.5–2.5 mm, 3–4-nerved (nerves prominent), faces strigillose; pappi white to sordid, 4 mm. |
dull purple or brown to tan (ribs tan to stramineous), obovoid, ± compressed, (1.5–)2–3 mm, 5–6-nerved, faces glabrate to sparsely strigillose distally; pappi cream to rose-tinged, 3–4 mm. |
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2n | = 16, 32. |
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Symphyotrichum dumosum |
Symphyotrichum drummondii |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Open or wooded, moist or wet soils, bogs, fens, sedge meadows, marshes, swamps, flood plains, sandy or calcareous flats, loamy prairies, old fields, sandhills, flatwoods, hammocks, pine-hickory woods, oak or pine thickets, secondary woods, sandy to mucky or marly shores of lakes and ponds, interdunal hollows | |||||
Elevation | 0–700 m (0–2300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MO; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; NB; ON
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AL; AR; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NE; OH; OK; PA; TN; TX; WI; WV; ne Mexico
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Discussion | Symphyotrichum dumosum is introduced in New Brunswick. It is widely cultivated. It can hybridize with S. racemosum and S. lanceolatum var. interior (A. G. Jones 1989). G. L. Nesom (1994b) and J. C. Semple et al. (2002) recognized several varieties within the complex: var. dumosum [syn. Aster coridifolius Michaux, A. dumosus Linnaeus var. coridifolius (Michaux) Torrey & A. Gray]; var. gracilipes (Wiegand) G. L. Nesom (syn. A. dumosus var. gracilipes Wiegand); var. pergracile (Wiegand) G. L. Nesom (syn. A. dumosus var. pergracile Wiegand); var. strictior (Torrey & A. Gray) G. L. Nesom [syn. A. dumosus var. strictior Torrey & A. Gray, A. dumosus var. dodgei Fernald, S. dumosum var. dodgei (Fernald) G. L. Nesom, the latter possibly the hybrid S. dumosum × S. boreale fide G. L. Nesom 1997]; and var. subulifolium (Torrey & A. Gray) G. L. Nesom (syn. A. dumosus var. subulifolium Torrey & A. Gray). Some of these taxa may deserve higher rank. More work is needed in the complex, however, before a coherent taxonomy can be achieved. G. L. Nesom (1997) recognized also a southern pine flatwoods entity called Symphyotrichum kralii G. L. Nesom, based on the illegitimately named Aster pinifolius Alexander (not Nees, nor F. Mueller). The type of A. pinifolius, however, appears to be conspecific with that of S. simmondsii. At present, it seems best to wait for full investigation before formally recognizing such taxa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Variety texanum is tetraploid; var. drummondii is both diploid and tetraploid. The tetraploid race of var. drummondii is most likely autopolyploid; origin of var. texanum has not been determined. The two taxa intergrade and do not appear to warrant species status. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 514. | FNA vol. 20, p. 503. | ||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Aster dumosus, Aster coridifolius | Aster drummondii, Aster sagittifolius var. drummondii | ||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 280. (1995) | (Lindley) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 279. (1995) | ||||
Web links |