Flora of North America species comparison

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Symphyotrichum subg. Ascendentes
Habit Perennials, eglandular; rhizomatous.
Stems

not brittle at maturity, densely and uniformly strigose, especially distally.
Leaves

basal persistent to, or withering by, flowering, petiolate, blades 1-nerved, oblanceolate, margins entire;

cauline sessile or subpetiolate, blades linear, oblong, or obovate, bases attenuate or cuneate.
Disc corollas

± ampliate, throats funnelform, lobes erect.
Phyllaries

usually unequal, sometimes subequal, green zones obovate to oblanceolate or elliptic (apices sometimes foliaceous, outer rarely wholly foliaceous).
Cypselae

cylindric to obovoid, not compressed, 4–7-nerved, glabrous.
Rays

florets (10–)14–60 in 1 series, laminae 8–13(–15) × 1–1.5(–2) mm.
x

= 13, 18, 21.

Symphyotrichum subg. Ascendentes
Distribution
w North America
Discussion

Species 2 (2 in the flora).

G. A. Allen (1985, 1986) demonstrated the hybrid origin of the allopolyploid Symphyotrichum ascendens and S. defoliatum from members of subg. Symphyotrichum sect. Occidentales and subg. Virgulus sect. Ericoidi; a separate subgenus was erected to accommodate these inter-subgeneric allopolyploids. In 1986, Allen also identified populations with the chromosome number 2n = 42 (x = 21) in the Mount Pinos area, southern Kern and northern Ventura counties, California. These populations resulted from a cross between S. ascendens and S. spathulatum, giving rise to an allopolyploid that, though an incipient species, lacks sufficient morphologic distinction from S. ascendens or S. spathulatum to allow separate recognition. Aster subg. Ascendentes (Rydberg) Semple is an illegitimate name.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 537.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum
Subordinate taxa
Synonyms Aster unranked Ascendentes, S. section Ascendentes, subg. Virgulaster
Name authority (Rydberg) Semple: in J. C. Semple et al., Cult. Native Asters Ontario, 133. (2002)
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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