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thin-leaf late purple aster

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

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
from FNA
AL; CT; DC; DE; GA; IN; KY; MA; MD; NC; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 490.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Virgulus
Sibling taxa
S. adnatum, S. anomalum, S. anticostense, S. ascendens, S. boreale, S. bracteolatum, S. campestre, S. chapmanii, S. chilense, S. ciliatum, S. ciliolatum, S. concolor, S. cordifolium, S. cusickii, S. defoliatum, S. depauperatum, S. drummondii, S. dumosum, S. elliottii, S. ericoides, S. eulae, S. falcatum, S. fendleri, S. firmum, S. foliaceum, S. fontinale, S. frondosum, S. georgianum, S. grandiflorum, S. greatae, S. hallii, S. hendersonii, S. jessicae, S. laeve, S. lanceolatum, S. lateriflorum, S. laurentianum, S. lentum, S. molle, S. nahanniense, S. novae-angliae, S. novi-belgii, S. oblongifolium, S. ontarionis, S. oolentangiense, S. parviceps, S. patens, S. pilosum, S. plumosum, S. porteri, S. potosinum, S. praealtum, S. pratense, S. prenanthoides, S. priceae, S. puniceum, S. pygmaeum, S. racemosum, S. retroflexum, S. rhiannon, S. robynsianum, S. sericeum, S. shortii, S. simmondsii, S. spathulatum, S. subspicatum, S. subulatum, S. tenuifolium, S. tradescantii, S. turbinellum, S. undulatum, S. urophyllum, S. walteri, S. welshii, S. yukonense, S. ×amethystinum
Synonyms Aster phlogifolius, Aster patens var. phlogifolius, Virgulus patens var. phlogifolius
Name authority (Muhlenberg ex Willdenow) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 289. (1995)
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