Symphyotrichum ericoides |
Symphyotrichum defoliatum |
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aster éricoïde, heath American-aster, heath-leaf aster, little gray aster, rayless alkali aster, tuft white prairie aster, white heath aster |
San Bernardino aster |
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Habit | Perennials, 20–80(–100) cm, colonial or cespitose, eglandular; branched rhizomatous, or with ± cormoid, branched, woody caudices. | Perennials, (30–)40–100(–150) cm, cespitose; short-rhizomatous. | ||||
Stems | 1–3+, ascending to erect (grayish brown to brown), sparsely to densely hispido-strigose, sometimes glabrescent proximally. |
1–5+, ascending to erect, strigose, villous, or lanate, especially distally. |
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Leaves | usually all except rameal withered by flowering, (light grayish green) firm apices ± white-spine-tipped (often with clusters of smaller leaves in axils); basal sessile, blades (3-nerved) oblanceolate to oblong or spatulate, 10–50 × 10–25 mm, bases attenuate, margins usually entire, rarely remotely serrate, scabrous, apices rounded to obtuse, faces usually sparsely hairy, often glabrous; proximal cauline sessile, blades (1- or 3-nerved) linear to lanceolate or oblong, 10–40(–60) × 1.5–4(–7) mm, reduced distally, bases cuneate, coarsely ciliate, margins entire, coarsely ciliate, apices acute or obtuse, faces moderately to densely strigose or hirsute; distal sessile, blades oblong-ovate, 10–40 × 1.5–3.5 mm, abruptly reduced distally, bases cuneate, margins entire, apices acute, faces moderately to densely strigose. |
(grayish green) thin to firm, margins entire, apices acute, faces strigose; basal withering by flowering, petiolate, blades narrowly oblanceolate, 50–100(–150) × 4–12(–15) mm, bases attenuate, margins scabrous to ciliate; proximalmost cauline often withering by flowering (often with tufts of leaves in axils), sessile, blades linear to narrowly oblong, 30–70(–100) × 4–8(–10) mm, bases attenuate or cuneate, apices acute; distal sessile, blades 15–80 × 2–8(–10) mm, bases cuneate, sometimes auriculate. |
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Peduncles | 0.5–1(–2) cm or subsessile, densely hairy, bracts dense, linear to narrowly lanceolate, usually reflexed, sometime appressed to ascending, 1.5–5(–6) mm, densely hairy, grading into phyllaries. |
densely short-strigose, bracts 1–6, linear-oblong, strigose. |
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Involucres | cylindric to campanulate, 2.5–4.5(–5) mm. |
campanulate, 4–7 mm. |
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Ray florets | (8–)10–18(–20); corollas usually white, rarely pink or bluish, laminae 6–12(–20) × 0.7–1.2 mm. |
15–40; corollas pale violet, laminae 8–12(–15) × 1–1.5(–2) mm. |
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Disc florets | 6–12(–20); corollas yellow becoming brown, 2.5–4 mm, throats narrowly funnelform, lobes triangular, 0.5–0.6 mm, glabrous. |
25–70+; corollas yellow, 4–6 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–0.8 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 3–4 series, oblanceolate to ± spatulate, unequal, firm, bases (whitish to tan) ± indurate in proximal 1/2–2/3, margins hyaline, scabrous proximally, green zones diamond-shaped, in distal 1/2, apices spine-tipped, (outer) spreading to reflexed or squarrose, faces (outer) sparsely to densely hispid, scabroso-hirsute adaxially, (inner) glabrous. |
in 3–6 series, narrowly oblanceolate or linear (outer) to linear (inner), unequal, bases indurate, margins entire, narrowly scarious, ciliate, green zones obovate to elliptic, apices obtuse, mucronulate, faces usually strigose. |
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Heads | (1–200+) in paniculiform arrays, branches fastigiate or arrays often pyramidal, racemiform, secund, crowded. |
(3–50+) in narrowly paniculiform arrays, branches 2–10(–20) cm. |
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Cypselae | deep purple turning brown, obovoid to oblong-obovoid, ± falcate, not compressed, 1.2–2 × 0.4–0.6 mm, 7–9-nerved (faint), faces sericeous or densely strigillose; pappi whitish, 3–4 mm. |
brown, cylindric to obovoid, not compressed, 1.5–3 mm, ribs 5–8, faces hairy; pappi whitish, 4–6 mm. |
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2n | = 36. |
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Symphyotrichum ericoides |
Symphyotrichum defoliatum |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Nov. | |||||
Habitat | Dry open grasslands and meadows, often near springs | |||||
Elevation | 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AR; AZ; CO; CT; DC; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SD; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; ON; QC; SK; n Mexico
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CA
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Symphyotrichum ericoides resembles S. pilosum var. pilosum, which has larger heads, longer rays, and phyllaries that are not spine-tipped, though the revolute margins can make them appear so. Two subspecies and four weakly separated varieties of S. ericoides were recognized by A. G. Jones (1978). Tetraploids of var. ericoides on the eastern prairies can be difficult to distinguish from S. falcatum. A number of aster cultivars are sold under the name “Aster ericoides.” These are all derived from European garden plants and are either cultivars of S. dumosum, S. lateriflorum, S. pilosum, or S. racemosum, or hybrids involving one of those species and another taxon. The misapplication of the epithet ericoides dates back to the nineteenth century and has persisted in the horticultural literature. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. Symphyotrichum defoliatum is known from the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains, and from the Peninsular Ranges, southern California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 494. | FNA vol. 20, p. 538. | ||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Virgulus | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Ascendentes | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Aster ericoides, Lasallea ericoides, Virgulus ericoides | Aster defoliatus, Aster bernardinus, Aster chilensis var. bernardinus | ||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 280. (1995) | (Parish) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 279. (1995) | ||||
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