Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum undulatum |
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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 |
wavy-leaf American-aster, wavyleaf aster, waxyleaf aster |
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Habit | Perennials 10–60 cm, colonial; long-rhizomatous. | Perennials, 30–160 cm, cespitose; short-rhizomatous or with branched, woody caudices. | ||||||||||||
Stems | 1–5+, ascending to erect, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
1–3+, erect (straight, brittle), hirtellous to glabrescent proximally to densely hirtellous distally. |
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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 scabrous, abaxial faces hirtellous, densely so on midveins, adaxial usually scabrous, sometimes strigose or hirsute, rarely glabrate; basal withering by flowering (sometimes new winter rosette developing), petiolate (petioles purplish, narrowly winged, bases dilated and sheathing, hirsute), blades oblong-ovate or ovate to widely ovate, (10–)35–60(–140) × (10–)15–70 mm, bases usually cordate or subcordate to rounded, sometimes attenuate, margins shallowly crenate-serrate to subentire, apices obtuse or rounded, mucronulate; proximalmost cauline withering by flowering, proximal persistent, winged-petiolate, distally more widely winged or ± sessile, wings widening abruptly at strongly auriculate-clasping petiolar bases, blades ovate to lanceolate, 30–120(–140) × (10–)20–50 mm, reduced distally, bases cordate- or auriculate-clasping (sessile), margins crenate-serrate or entire, apices acute or acuminate, mucronate; distal sessile, blades lance-ovate to oblong or lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, sometimes pandurate (branch leaves ovate to lanceolate, sharply smaller), 4–100 × 0.5–26 mm, reduced distally, bases ± clasping, sheathing, margins serrulate or entire, apices acute or acuminate to long-acuminate. |
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Peduncles | sparsely hairy, bracts 0–3, lanceolate. |
well developed, 0.3–3(–5) cm, branches to 10 cm, spreading, bracteate, densely hirtellous to strigillose, bracts 3–10+, firm, appressed, subulate (2–3 mm), grading into phyllaries. |
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Involucres | campanulate, 6–16(–20) mm. |
campanulate to cylindro-campanulate, 3.8–5.5 mm. |
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Ray florets | 15–60; corollas violet to purple, laminae 8–18(–20) × 1–2 mm. |
12–16(–25); corollas usually blue to purple, sometimes lilac, laminae 6–12 × 1.4–2.5 mm. |
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Disc florets | 50–150; corollas yellow, 4–7 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–1 mm. |
15–22(–25); corollas cream or light yellow becoming purple, 4–5.8 mm, tubes slightly shorter than funnelform throats, lobes lanceolate, 0.5–0.9 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 4–5(–6) series, appressed or outer spreading, oblong-lanceolate (outer) to linear-oblanceolate (inner) or linear (innermost), strongly unequal, bases indurate 1/2–2/3, margins scarious, erose, hyaline, ciliolate, green zones diamond-shaped to lanceolate, apices acute to acuminate or obtuse, often ± involute, often mucronulate, sometimes tips purplish, abaxial faces hirsutulous, adaxial sparsely so distally. |
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Heads | borne singly or in paniculiform arrays, branches ascending, up to 25 cm. |
in open, narrow to wide paniculiform arrays, branches widely spreading, divaricate to ascending, sometimes secund, ± densely leafy. |
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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. |
dull purple to light brown or tan, oblong-obovoid, compressed, 1.7–2.2 mm, 3–4-nerved, faces strigillose; pappi cream or rose-tinged, 3.5–5 mm. |
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2n | = 16, 32. |
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Symphyotrichum foliaceum |
Symphyotrichum undulatum |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Dry or well-drained, loamy or rocky soils, open decidous woods, borders, clearings, dry hammocks, sandhills, open-wooded bluffs underlain by sandstone or limestone | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 200–1500 m (700–4900 ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV; NS; ON; Ala
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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 undulatum is of conservation concern in Illinois and Nova Scotia. Hybridization with S. drummondii and S. oolentangiense has been by reported by A. G. Jones (1989), but some specimens so annotated represent phenotypic variation of S. undulatum. Symphyotrichum undulatum is sometimes confused with members of the S. patens complex due to its auriculate-clasping, more or less pandurifom cauline leaves. (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. 506. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Occidentales | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum | ||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Aster foliaceus | Aster undulatus, Aster asperifolius, Aster baldwinii, Aster claviger, Aster corrigiatus, Aster gracilescens, Aster linguiformis, Aster loriformis, Aster mohrii, Aster proteus, Aster sylvestris, Aster triangularis, Aster truellius, Aster undulatus var. diversifolius, Aster undulatus var. loriformis | ||||||||||||
Name authority | (Lindley ex de Candolle) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 282. (1995) | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 293. (1995) | ||||||||||||
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