Symphyotrichum jessicae |
Symphyotrichum concolor |
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Jessica's aster, Palouse aster |
eastern silver American-aster, eastern silver aster, eastern silvery aster |
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Habit | Perennials, 40–150 cm, colonial; long-rhizomatous. | Perennials, 30–80 cm, cespitose; with cormoid, woody caudices. | ||||
Stems | 1–5+, ascending to erect, densely puberulent to lanate, especially distally. |
1–10+, ascending to erect (light to dark brown), glabrous or densely canescent distally. |
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Leaves | thickish, margins entire or shallowly crenate, apices acute to ± obtuse, faces densely lanate-puberulent; basal withering by flowering, petiolate, blades obovate to elliptic, 30–150 × 10–40 mm, bases cuneate to rounded, margins entire, ciliolate, apices acute, faces densely cinereous to lanate; proximalmost cauline sometimes withering by flowering, subpetiolate or sessile, blades obovate-lanceolate to elliptic, 50–100 × 10–25(–35) mm, bases cuneate, clasping, ± auriculate, apices usually acute; distal sessile, blades 20–60(–80) × 9–16(–20) mm, bases rounded to auriculate. |
(green to graysih) soft to firm; basal withering by flowering, sessile, blades (1–3-nerved) elliptic-lanceolate, 10–43 × 5–15 mm, bases attenuate, margins usually entire, rarely remotely serrate, piloso-ciliate, apices acute to obtuse, faces silvery silky-pilose to sparsely pilose; proximal cauline withering by flowering, sessile, blades oblanceolate, 20–35 × 5–15 mm, bases rounded, subclasping, margins entire, scabrous to silky-pilose, apices acute to obtuse, cuspidate mucronate, faces ± densely silky; distal sessile, blades usually oblong to lanceolate, rarely ovate, 9–15 × 1.8–5 mm, reduced distally, bases cuneate, margins entire, apices acute, mucronate, faces ± densely silky or sparsely strigose, sometimes glabrate (var. devestitum). |
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Peduncles | densely lanate, bracts 1–8, elliptic, margins ciliolate, apices acute, puberulent. |
densely hairy, bracts becoming linear, grading into phyllaries. |
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Involucres | campanulate, 6–10 mm. |
campanulate to narrowly campanulate, 5–7 mm. |
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Ray florets | 18–40; corollas violet, laminae (8–)12–20 × 1–2(–2.5) mm. |
8–12; corollas rose-purple, rarely white, laminae 4–9 × 1–1.5 mm. |
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Disc florets | 35–80+; corollas yellow, 6–9 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–1 mm. |
(9–)11–17(–21); corollas pink turning purple, 4.5–6 mm, tubes shorter than narrowly funnelform throats (thinly puberulent), lobes triangular, 0.4–0.7 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 4–6 series, oblanceolate (outer) to linear (inner), unequal, bases scarious (outer sometimes foliaceous), margins slightly scarious, entire, green zones obovate to elliptic, apices acute, faces densely lanate to cinereous. |
in 3–5 series, appressed, lanceolate-oblong, strongly unequal, bases (tan) ± indurate, margins scarious proximally, green distally, green zones restricted to apex, obscured by hair, apices usually acute, sometimes acuminate, usually mucronate, sometimes subspinulose, faces ± densely silky. |
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Heads | in paniculiform, very leafy arrays, branches 4–10(–20) cm. |
in narrow, paniculiform (virgate) arrays (1–3(–5) per branch). |
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Cypselae | brown, cylindric to obovoid, not compressed, 3.5–4.5 mm, 4–5-nerved, faces sparsely hairy; pappi tawny, (6–)7–9 mm. |
obovoid, not compressed, 2.5–3.5 mm, 7–10-nerved, faces densely strigose; pappi tan, (3.5–)4–6 mm. |
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2n | = 80. |
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Symphyotrichum jessicae |
Symphyotrichum concolor |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Dry grasslands, meadows, stream banks, openings in Ponderosa pine woodlands | |||||
Elevation | 500–1200 m (1600–3900 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
ID; WA
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AL; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; MA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; RI; SC; TN; VA
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Discussion | Of conservation concern. Symphyotrichum jessicae is known only from the Palouse and Clearwater river drainages of eastern Washington and adjacent northwestern Idaho. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 536. | FNA vol. 20, p. 492. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Aster jessicae | Aster concolor, Lasallea concolor, Virgulus concolor | ||||
Name authority | (Piper) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 283. (1995) | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 278. (1995) | ||||
Web links |