Symphyotrichum dumosum |
Symphyotrichum lentum |
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bushy American-aster, bushy aster, rice button aster |
Suisun Marsh 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, 40–150(–200) cm, colonial; long-rhizomatous. |
Stems | 1–5+, erect (straight, often slender, brittle), densely or sparsely strigose to glabrescent or glabrate. |
1–5, ascending to erect, glabrous. |
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. |
thin, margins entire, apices acute, faces glabrous; basal withering by flowering, petiolate, blades linear to narrowly lanceolate, 100–150 × 5–10 mm, attenuate or cuneate, margins entire, apices acute, faces usually glabrous; proximalmost cauline usually withering by flowering, sessile, blades linear to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 50–90 × 5–8(–20) mm, bases attenuate or cuneate; distal sessile, blades 40–80 × 5–8(–15) mm, bases cuneate. |
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. |
glabrous or sparsely villous, bracts 5–15, sessile, lance-linear to lanceolate, margins sometimes spiculate. |
Involucres | cylindro-campanulate, (3–)4.5–6.3 mm. |
campanulate, 5–8 mm. |
Ray florets | 15–33; corollas pale blue, pink, or lavender to white, laminae (4–)5–7(–8) × 1–1.7 mm. |
20–45+; corollas violet, laminae 10–18 × 1–2 mm. |
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. |
35–70+; corollas yellow, 5–7 mm, lobes triangular, 0.8–1.5 mm. |
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, narrowly oblong (outer) to linear (inner), unequal (outer at least 3 times longer than wide), bases (outer) indurate 1/2 or less, margins scarious proximally, eciliate or ciliolate, green zones lanceolate to elliptic, apices acute to acuminate, faces glabrous. |
Heads | in remote, diffuse, open, paniculiform arrays, branches numerous, ascending to stiffly ascending, secondary ones stiff, racemiform (usually not secund). |
in paniculiform arrays, branches some at least 25 cm. |
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. |
brown, cylindric to obovoid, not compressed, 3–4 mm, 2–4-nerved, faces glabrous or hairy; pappi white, 5–7 mm. |
2n | = 16, 32. |
= 16, 64. |
Symphyotrichum dumosum |
Symphyotrichum lentum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | Flowering Jul–Aug. |
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 | Salt marshes, wet grasslands |
Elevation | 0–700 m (0–2300 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 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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CA
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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.) |
Symphyotrichum lentum is known only from the Sacramento Valley, North Bay County, lower Sacramento River, and San Francisco Bay areas. Probable intergrades with S. chilense have been noted. of conservation concern (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 514. | FNA vol. 20, p. 536. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Occidentales |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Aster dumosus, Aster coridifolius | Aster lentus, Aster chilensis var. lentus, Aster chilensis var. sonomensis |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 280. (1995) | (Greene) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 286. (1995) |
Web links |