Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum chilense |
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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 |
common California aster, common California or Pacific aster, Pacific aster |
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Habit | Perennials 10–60 cm, colonial; long-rhizomatous. | Perennials, 40–100(–120) cm, colonial or cespitose; long-rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||
Stems | 1–5+, ascending to erect, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
1–5+, ascending or erect, glabrous or hirsute. |
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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. |
thin, margins entire, apices usually acute, faces glabrous or sparsely puberulent; basal withering by flowering, petiolate, blades (linear-)oblanceolate to obovate, 30–200 × 4–40 mm, bases attenuate, margins entire to finely serrate, apices acute; proximalmost cauline sometimes withering by flowering, sessile, blades broadly to narrowly oblanceolate, 40–150 × 5–30 mm, bases usually ± attenuate or cuneate; distal sessile, blades lanceolate to oblanceolate, 25–90 × 5–30 mm, bases cuneate. |
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Peduncles | sparsely hairy, bracts 0–3, lanceolate. |
puberulent, bracts 3–10, lanceolate to elliptic, margins often scabrous to ciliolate. |
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Involucres | campanulate, 6–16(–20) mm. |
campanulate, 5–8 mm. |
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Ray florets | 15–60; corollas violet to purple, laminae 8–18(–20) × 1–2 mm. |
15–40; corollas violet, laminae 9–15 × 1.5–2.5 mm. |
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Disc florets | 50–150; corollas yellow, 4–7 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–1 mm. |
35–60+; corollas yellow, 4–8 mm, lobes triangular, 0.5–1 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 3–5 series, oblanceolate or oblong (outer) to linear (inner), unequal to subequal (outer usually shorter than inner, if so, lengths less than 3 times widths), bases scarious (outer) less than 1/2 or sometimes wholly foliaceous, inner scarious, margins eciliate or ciliolate, green zones oblanceolate to obovate or linear (innermost), apices (outer) obtuse, (inner) acute, faces glabrous or puberulent. |
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Heads | borne singly or in paniculiform arrays, branches ascending, up to 25 cm. |
in open, paniculiform arrays, some branches at least 20+ cm. |
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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. |
brown, cylindric to obovoid, not compressed, 3.5–4.5 mm, 2–4-nerved, faces hairy; pappi white to tawny, 4–8 mm. |
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2n | = 48, 64, 96. |
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Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum chilense |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Sep. | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Grasslands, salt marshes, coastal dunes and bluffs, coastal grasslands and scrub, open disturbed habitats in evergreen and Pacific coast coniferous forest | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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CA; OR; WA; 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.) |
Symphyotrichum chilense is restricted to coastal habitats from southwestern British Columbia to central California. It is almost entirely coastal in Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia, where it is mainly hexaploid (2n = 48). In Oregon, where it is sympatric with S. subspicatum, the latter is mainly duodecaploid (2n = 96). The distinction does not hold in British Columbia, however, where S. subspicatum is both 2n = 48 and 96, and where S. chilense is less common (G. A. Allen 1984). The species was erroneously thought by Nees to occur in Chile. The plants named Aster chilensis var. medius Jepson are hybrids of S. chilense and S. lentum. (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. 536. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Occidentales | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Occidentales | ||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Aster foliaceus | Aster chilensis, Aster chilensis var. invenustus | ||||||||||||
Name authority | (Lindley ex de Candolle) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 282. (1995) | (Nees) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 277. (1995) | ||||||||||||
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