Symphyotrichum ericoides |
Symphyotrichum welshii |
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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 |
Welsh's aster |
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Habit | Perennials, 20–80(–100) cm, colonial or cespitose, eglandular; branched rhizomatous, or with ± cormoid, branched, woody caudices. | Perennials, 30–100 cm colonial; rhizomes shallow and long, often relatively thick (those of the season each producing a distal rosette near the parent plant). | ||||
Stems | 1–3+, ascending to erect (grayish brown to brown), sparsely to densely hispido-strigose, sometimes glabrescent proximally. |
1–2, ascending to erect (sometimes lax, sometimes reddish), glabrous or sparsely strigoso-villosulous distally (arrays). |
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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. |
(adaxially green, abaxially pale green, sometimes glaucous) thin (proximal) to stiff (distal), margins serrulate (proximal) or entire or nearly so, ± revolute, scabrous, apices mucronulate or sometimes callous-pointed, faces glabrous; basal withering by flowering, petiolate (petioles narrowly winged, sheathing), blades oblanceolate to spatulate, 10–40+ × 4–9+ mm, bases attenuate, margins entire, apices obtuse; proximal cauline withering by flowering, sessile or winged-petiolate, blades lanceolate to oblanceolate, 50–150 × 8–11 mm, bases slightly clasping, margins sparsely serrulate, apices acute; distal sessile, blades linear to linear-lanceolate, 50–130 × 4–6 mm, gradually reduced distally, bases ± clasping, apices acute. |
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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. |
0.5–2 cm, scabro-villosulous, bracts linear, scabro-ciliolate. |
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Involucres | cylindric to campanulate, 2.5–4.5(–5) mm. |
cylindro-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. |
18–25; corollas pink to white, laminae 9–12 × 0.8–1.5 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. |
23–60; corollas pale yellow, 3.8–6.4 mm, tubes shorter than funnelform throats, lobes narrowly 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 3–4 series, lanceolate (outer) to linear (inner), ± unequal, bases indurate, margins hyaline, erose, distally scabro-ciliolate to ciliolate, green zones ± foliaceous (outer) or lanceolate, apices acute to acuminate, sometimes purplish, faces glabrous. |
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Heads | (1–200+) in paniculiform arrays, branches fastigiate or arrays often pyramidal, racemiform, secund, crowded. |
in open, slender, leafy, paniculiform or racemiform arrays, branches ascending. |
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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. |
pinkish tan (nerves stramineous), obovoid, ± compressed, 0.8–1.6 mm, 3–5-nerved, faces sparsely strigillose; pappi white, 2.8–5.3 mm. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Symphyotrichum ericoides |
Symphyotrichum welshii |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Wet soils in dry areas, hanging gardens, seeps, wet ledges, stream banks | |||||
Elevation | 1300–2300 m (4300–7500 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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AZ; ID; MT; UT; WY |
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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. (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. 523. | ||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Virgulus | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Aster ericoides, Lasallea ericoides, Virgulus ericoides | Aster welshii | ||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 280. (1995) | (Cronquist) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 294. (1995) | ||||
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