Symphyotrichum grandiflorum |
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii |
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big-head aster, large-flower aster |
aster de New York, New York American-aster, New York aster |
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Habit | Perennials, 50–100 cm, colonial; woody rhizomatous. | Perennials, 17–100(–140) cm, loosely to densely colonial or sometimes cespitose; long-rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||
Stems | 1–5+, erect (stout, brown), proximally ± hispid, distally sparsely strigose, distally stipitate-glandular. |
1–5+, erect (straight, stout to slender, often reddish), glabrous and hairy in lines distally or sometimes wholly strigoso-pilose (var. villicaule). |
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Leaves | 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. |
thick, firm, ± fleshy, margins scabrous, apices mucronate, faces glabrous, abaxial midveins sometimes villosulous (var. villicaule); basal withering by flowering, petiolate (petioles winged, bases sheathing), blades ovate to ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 17–60+ × 6–11+ mm, bases attenuate to cuneate, apices obtuse; proximal cauline withering by flowering, sessile or widely winged-petiolate (petioles clasping), blades lance-ovate or -obovate to elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 40–200 × 4–40 mm, bases cuneate or sometimes slightly attenuate, sometimes rounded or slightly auriculate, slightly clasping, apices acute to acuminate; distal sessile, blades lance-ovate to linear-lanceolate, 13–62 × 3–15 mm, progressively reduced distally, bases cuneate or ± rounded, sometimes slightly auriculate, ± clasping, margins sparsely serrulate or entire. |
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Peduncles | 3–5 cm, short-strigose, stipitate-glandular, bracts spreading to reflexed, lanceolate-oblong, 5–10 mm, little reduced distally, grading into phyllaries. |
4–41 mm, glabrous or moderately pilose, bracts 1–3, lanceolate or ovate to linear-oblanceolate, subtending ones sometimes exceeding involucres, sometimes grading into phyllaries. |
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Involucres | campanulate, 8.5–12 mm. |
campanulate, 6–9 mm. |
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Ray florets | 14–35; corollas light to reddish purple, laminae 11–15(–20) × 1.5–2.5 mm. |
15–35; corollas usually blue-violet or purple, rarely pink or white, laminae (6–)10–19 × 0.9–2.1 mm. |
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Disc florets | 25–35; corollas yellow becoming reddish purple, 5.5–8 mm, lobes narrowly triangular, 0.7–1 mm. |
28–68; corollas yellow becoming reddish brown to purple, 4–7.5 mm, tubes shorter than funnelform-campanulate throats, lobes lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm. |
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Phyllaries | 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. |
in 3–4 series, oblong-oblanceolate or -spatulate (outer) or oblong-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate or linear (inner), ± unequal to subequal, bases indurate 1/5–1/3, margins hyaline, scarious, erose and sparsely ciliolate distally, green zones lanceolate, sometimes foliaceous, apices spreading to ± squarrose, usually acute to obtuse or ± long-acuminate, mucronulate, faces glabrous. |
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Heads | in racemiform to paniculiform arrays, branches patent or ascending with 1–5+ heads. |
in open to dense, paniculiform arrays, branches ± divaricate to ascending, leafy with remote, small, gradually reduced branch leaves. |
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Cypselae | light brown, cylindric to narrowly obovoid, ± compressed, 3–4.5 mm, 7–10-nerved (brown), faces moderately strigose; pappi tan, 5.5–6 mm. |
tan to brown, obovoid, compressed, 2–4 mm, 4–6-nerved, faces sparsely strigose to glabrate; pappi sordid to yellowish, 4–6 mm. |
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2n | = 30, 60. |
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Symphyotrichum grandiflorum |
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii |
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Phenology | Flowering (Sep–)Oct(–Nov). | Late Aug–Oct(–Nov). | ||||||||||||
Habitat | Sandy soils, sand hills, roadsides, edges of deciduous woods and thickets | Woods and open places, especially sandy soils | ||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–200+ m (0–700+ ft) | 0–1400[–2300] m (0–4600[–7500] ft) | ||||||||||||
Distribution |
NC; SC; VA
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AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; KS; LA; MO; NC; NE; NM; OK; SC; TX; Mexico (Coahuila)
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Discussion | varieties 4 (4 in the flora) Symphyotrichum novi-belgii is morphologically variable (J. Labrecque and L. Brouillet 1996) and this variation appears to have both genetic and environmental bases. The name Aster foliaceus has been misapplied to members of this complex in eastern North America; various other names also have been misused at the specific or subspecific levels. These are clarified under the varieties below. Hybrids of S. novi-belgii, probably mostly var. novi-belgii or var. elodes, have been reported with S. lanceolatum and S. lateriflorum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 484. | FNA vol. 20, p. 528. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Virgulus | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum | ||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Aster grandiflorus, Virgulus grandiflorus | Aster novi-belgii | ||||||||||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 283. (1995) | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 287. (1995) | ||||||||||||
Web links |