Flora of North America species comparison

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Symphyotrichum laeve var. purpuratum
Photo is of parent taxon

smooth blue aster
Leaves

mostly basal and proximal at flowering (cauline usually reduced), mostly linear, slightly auriculate-clasping, often more than 5 times as long as wide.
Phyllaries

strongly unequal, apical green zones diamond-shaped.
2n

= 48.

Symphyotrichum laeve var. purpuratum
Phenology Flowering Sep–Oct.
Habitat Dry, open places, prairies, open deciduous woods, mostly on coastal plains
Elevation 20–100+ m (100–300+ ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; GA; LA; MS; TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The range of var. purpuratum is more southern and western (Gulf Coastal Plains) than that of var. concinnum (mainly eastern Appalachians and Piedmont). Controversy surrounds the question of proper rank for this taxon. Semple suggests the rank of species. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish this variety from var. concinnum, from which it differs by its mostly basal leaves, basal and proximal leaves persistent and more linear, and often more compact arrays (A. Cronquist 1980). When subspecies are recognized under Symphyotrichum laeve, it is uncertain whether var. attenuatum would constitute a separate subspecies or be part of subsp. concinnum.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 510.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Symphyotrichum > Symphyotrichum laeve
Sibling taxa
S. laeve var. concinnum, S. laeve var. geyeri, S. laeve var. laeve
Synonyms Aster purpuratus, Aster attenuatus, Aster laevis var. purpuratus, S. attenuatum
Name authority (Nees) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 284. (1995)
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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