Flora of North America species comparison

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Symphyotrichum laeve var. concinnum

Symphyotrichum sect. Symphyotrichum
Photo is of parent taxon

smooth blue aster
Habit Perennials; rhizomatous.
Stems

usually simple, sometimes ± branched.
Leaves

basal withering by flowering, linear-lanceolate to linear, slightly auriculate-clasping, often more than 5 times as long as wide.

Ray florets

fewer than disc florets, in 1 series (corollas conspicuous).
Disc corollas

± ampliate, lobes usually erect, sometimes spreading or reflexed.
Phyllaries

strongly unequal, apical green zones diamond-shaped.

Heads

radiate.
Pappi

shorter than to equaling disc florets at flowering.
x

= 8.
2n

= 48.

Symphyotrichum laeve var. concinnum

Symphyotrichum sect. Symphyotrichum
Phenology Flowering Sep–Oct.
Habitat Dry open woods, mostly on Piedmont and in mountains
Elevation 50–1000 m (200–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; DC; DE; FL; GA; KY; MD; MS; NC; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
[BONAP county map]
North America; Mexico [Widely introduced worldwide through ornamental horticulture]
Discussion

The range of var. concinnum overlaps little with that of var. laeve, being confined to the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains and to the Piedmont. When subsp. laeve is recognized, var. concinnum belongs to Symphyotrichum laeve subsp. concinnum (Willdenow) Semple & Brouillet.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Species 39+ (36 in the flora).

Subsections have been recognized within sect. Symphyotrichum. They are not treated formally here. Subsectional phylogeny is mostly unresolved. Lists of species (from the flora area) within each subsection are provided here as a rough guide to relationships.

Subsection Heterophylli (Nees) Semple: Symphyotrichum cordifolium, S. ciliolatum, S. drummondii, S. anomalum, S. shortii, S. undulatum, S. urophyllum, S. oolentangiense, S. laeve, S. retroflexum.

Subsection Porteriana (Rydberg) G. L. Nesom: Symphyotrichum depauperatum, S. parviceps, S. pilosum, S. porteri, S. priceae.

Subsection Dumosi (Torrey & A. Gray) G. L. Nesom: Symphyotrichum dumosum, S. simmondsii, S. racemosum, S. eulae, S. tradescantii, S. lateriflorum, S. ontarionis, S. lanceolatum, S. praealtum, S. boreale, S. nahanniense, S. welshii.

Subsection Symphyotrichum: Symphyotrichum elliottii, S. puniceum, S. firmum, S. rhiannon, S. prenanthoides, S. novi-belgii, S. anticostense, S. robynsianum.

Undeteremined [often treated as monotypic sect. Turbinelli (Rydberg) Semple]: Symphyotrichum turbinellum.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 509. FNA vol. 20, p. 500.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum > Symphyotrichum laeve Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum
Sibling taxa
S. laeve var. geyeri, S. laeve var. laeve, S. laeve var. purpuratum
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms Aster concinnus, Aster laevis var. concinnus
Name authority (Willdenow) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 283. (1995) unknown
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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