Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum grandiflorum |
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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 |
big-head aster, large-flower aster |
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Habit | Perennials 10–60 cm, colonial; long-rhizomatous. | Perennials, 50–100 cm, colonial; woody rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||
Stems | 1–5+, ascending to erect, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
1–5+, erect (stout, brown), proximally ± hispid, distally sparsely strigose, distally 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. |
stiff (dark green), greatly reduced distally, margins entire, scabrous; basal early deciduous, sessile, blades (3-nerved) oblanceolate, 40–80 × 4–12 mm, bases attenuate, apices obtuse to acute, faces sparsely scabrous; proximal cauline usually withered by flowering, sessile, blades oblanceolate to lanceolate-oblong, 20–60 × 5–20 mm, bases cordate-clasping, apices acute, mucronulate, faces glabrate to sparsely scabrous, stipitate-glandular; distal sessile, blades lanceolate to oblong, 20–40 × 5–8 mm, bases cuneate, apices acute, mucronulate to white-spinulose, faces glabrous or scabrous, sparsely stipitate-glandular. |
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Peduncles | sparsely hairy, bracts 0–3, lanceolate. |
3–5 cm, short-strigose, stipitate-glandular, bracts spreading to reflexed, lanceolate-oblong, 5–10 mm, little reduced distally, grading into phyllaries. |
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Involucres | campanulate, 6–16(–20) mm. |
campanulate, 8.5–12 mm. |
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Ray florets | 15–60; corollas violet to purple, laminae 8–18(–20) × 1–2 mm. |
14–35; corollas light to reddish purple, laminae 11–15(–20) × 1.5–2.5 mm. |
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Disc florets | 50–150; corollas yellow, 4–7 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–1 mm. |
25–35; corollas yellow becoming reddish purple, 5.5–8 mm, lobes narrowly triangular, 0.7–1 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 3–4 series, spatulate-oblanceolate, unequal, bases ± indurate, margins scarious, green zones covering distal portion, apices spreading to strongly reflexed, faces sparsely scabrous, moderately stipitate-glandular. |
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Heads | borne singly or in paniculiform arrays, branches ascending, up to 25 cm. |
in racemiform to paniculiform arrays, branches patent or ascending with 1–5+ heads. |
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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, cylindric to narrowly obovoid, ± compressed, 3–4.5 mm, 7–10-nerved (brown), faces moderately strigose; pappi tan, 5.5–6 mm. |
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2n | = 30, 60. |
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Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum grandiflorum |
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Phenology | Flowering (Sep–)Oct(–Nov). | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Sandy soils, sand hills, roadsides, edges of deciduous woods and thickets | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–200+ m (0–700+ ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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NC; SC; VA
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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.) |
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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 | ||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Aster foliaceus | Aster grandiflorus, Virgulus grandiflorus | ||||||||||||
Name authority | (Lindley ex de Candolle) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 282. (1995) | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 283. (1995) | ||||||||||||
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