Symphyotrichum phlogifolium |
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thin-leaf late purple aster |
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Habit | Perennials, 50–130 cm, cespitose; with short, thick, woody caudices, not rhizomatous. |
Stems | 1, erect to arching, light to dark brown, soft-hairy, hairs ascending- to spreading- stipitate-glandular distally. |
Leaves | (dark green) thin, almost membraneous; basal early deciduous, sessile or subpetiolate, blades spatulate to obovate, 80–140 × 20–30 mm, bases cuneate, margins entire to ± serrate, scabrous, apices acute; proximal cauline withering by flowering, sessile, blades panduriform, (20–)30–70(–110) × 10–30(–35) mm, bases auriculate-clasping, margins entire (flat), sparsely villoso-ciliate, apices acute, faces finely sparely villous or scabrous, stipitate-glandular; distal sessile, blades (rugose-veined when fresh) ovate to lanceolate, 75–125(–140) × 15–35(–40) mm, bases strongly cordate-clasping to auriculate-amplexicaul, margins entire (± undulate), apices acute, acuminate to merely mucronate, faces sparsely strigose, moderately so along veins, sparsely to moderately stipitate-glandular. |
Peduncles | short (less than 4 cm), strigose, stipitate-glandular, bracts linear-lanceolate, ascending-appressed, grading into phyllaries. |
Involucres | cylindric, 5.5–7.5(–8) mm. |
Ray florets | 9–17; corollas light to dark reddish purple, laminae 10–18(–20) × 1–3 mm. |
Disc florets | 15–35; corollas white with purple lobes, 6–8 mm, lobes triangular, 1–1.5 mm. |
Phyllaries | in 4–6 series, linear-lanceolate, unequal, bases (tan) ± indurate in proximal 1/3–1/2, margins hyaline, erose, distally scabro-ciliolate to ciliolate, green zones covering distal 1/2, apices outer obtuse to acute, inner acuminate, purplish, faces sparsely strigillose, usually moderately to densely stipitate-glandular, rarely sparsely so. |
Heads | in crowded, paniculiform arrays, branches often initially patent then ascending. |
Cypselae | dark brown to black, obovoid, not compressed, 2.5–4 mm, 7–10-nerved, faces densely strigose along ribs; pappi tan to tawny, sometimes slightly purplish-tinged, 6–8 mm. |
2n | = 20. |
Symphyotrichum phlogifolium |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. |
Habitat | Loamy, sandy, or gravelly soils, rich mesic mixed-hardwood forests (Appalachians), roadsides |
Elevation | 0–1100 m (0–3600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; CT; DC; DE; GA; IN; KY; MA; MD; NC; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; WV
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 490. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Virgulus |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Aster phlogifolius, Aster patens var. phlogifolius, Virgulus patens var. phlogifolius |
Name authority | (Muhlenberg ex Willdenow) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 289. (1995) |
Web links |