Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum campestre |
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alpine leafybract aster, Canby's leafybract aster, Cusick's American aster, Cusick's aster, Henderson's aster, Kootenai aster, leafy aster, leafy or leafy-bract or alpine leafybract aster, leafy-bract aster, Parry's aster |
meadow aster, western meadow aster |
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Habit | Perennials 10–60 cm, colonial; long-rhizomatous. | Perennials, 10–40 cm, colonial or cespitose; long-rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||
Stems | 1–5+, ascending to erect, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
1–5+, ascending to erect (light to dark brown), proximally glabrous, distally strigose, stipitate-glandular. |
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Leaves | thin, margins entire or sometimes serrate, apices acute to obtuse, faces usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hairy; basal usually persistent, petiolate to subpetiolate, blades broadly elliptic to obovate, 30–200 × 8–25(–30) mm, bases attenuate, margins entire or sometimes serrate, apices acute to obtuse; proximal cauline sessile or subpetiolate, blades elliptic to obovate, 35–120 × 8–25 mm, bases attenuate or cuneate to rounded, sometimes ± clasping, apices acute; distal sessile, reduced distally, bases cuneate, apices acute. |
(light green) firm, margins entire, scabrous; basal sometimes persistent, sessile, blades (1–3-nerved) linear-oblanceolate, 10–30 × 4–10 mm, bases attenuate, apices obtuse, mucronate, faces glabrate to sparsely scabrous; proximal cauline withering by flowering, sessile, blades (3-nerved) narrowly oblanceolate, 20–80 × 2–8 mm, bases cuneate, apices obtuse to acute, mucronulate or white-spinulose, faces glabrous or moderately short-strigose, stipitate-glandular; distal sessile, blades linear-oblanceolate to -lanceolate or oblong (distally), 20–50 × 2–5 mm, ± reduced distally, bases ± clasping to cuneate, apices acute, mucronulate, faces glabrous or moderately short-strigose, stipitate-glandular. |
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Peduncles | sparsely hairy, bracts 0–3, lanceolate. |
sparsely to moderately short-strigose, moderately stipitate-glandular, bracts ± ascending, linear to narrowly-lanceolate. |
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Involucres | campanulate, 6–16(–20) mm. |
campanulate to cylindro-campanulate, 5.5–8 mm. |
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Ray florets | 15–60; corollas violet to purple, laminae 8–18(–20) × 1–2 mm. |
15–31; corollas violet, laminae (5–)6–15 × 1–2 mm. |
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Disc florets | 50–150; corollas yellow, 4–7 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–1 mm. |
25–40; corollas yellow, 4.5–6 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–0.8 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 4–6 series, oblanceolate or oblong (outer) to lanceolate or linear (inner), subequal or unequal (outer exceeding inner), bases outer foliaceous, inner indurate, margins entire, green zones elliptic to lanceolate, apices acute to rounded, faces glabrous or puberulent. |
in 3–4 series, linear to lanceolate, subequal to unequal, bases ± indurate, margins scarious, green zones covering distal portion, apices acute to acuminate, outer ± foliaceous, spreading to reflexed, faces glabrate, sparsely to densely stipitate-glandular. |
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Heads | borne singly or in paniculiform arrays, branches ascending, up to 25 cm. |
1–10(–30), borne singly or in paniculiform arrays, branches ascending. |
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Cypselae | brown, cylindric to obovoid, not compressed, 2.5–4 mm, 3–4-nerved, faces hairy; pappi white to tawny, 5–8 mm. |
light brown, sometimes translucent reddish brown between ribs, narrowly obovoid, ± compressed, 2–2.5 mm, 3–4-nerved (faint), moderately strigose on ribs; pappi tawny, 3.8–6 mm. |
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2n | = 10. |
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Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum campestre |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Open, often dry, disturbed, rocky and sandy soils near ponds and streams, dry grass meadows, open pine-douglas fir forests, plains to montane zones | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 1500–2500 m (4900–8200 ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Varieties 4 (4 in the flora). Symphyotrichum foliaceum is extremely variable and is widespread in western montane coniferous forests and subalpine meadows. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Two poorly defined varieties of Symphyotrichum campestre have been described. Variety campestre has glabrous or sparsely strigose leaves and occurs in southern British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Bloomer’s Aster, var. bloomeri, has moderately strigose leaves and occurs in California, Nevada, and Oregon. The varieties are not sufficiently distinct to warrant recognition. Symphyotrichum ×columbianum (Piper) G. L. Nesom (syn. Aster columbianus Piper, A. multiflorus Aiton var. columbianus (Piper) S. F. Blake, Virgulus ×columbianus (Piper) Reveal & Keener) is the hybrid between S. campestre and S. ericoides subsp. pansum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 532. | FNA vol. 20, p. 484. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Occidentales | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Virgulus | ||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Aster foliaceus | Aster campestris, Aster bloomeri, Aster campestris var. bloomeri, S. campestre var. bloomeri, Virgulus campestris | ||||||||||||
Name authority | (Lindley ex de Candolle) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 282. (1995) | (Nuttall) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 276. (1995) | ||||||||||||
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