Symphyotrichum subulatum |
Symphyotrichum greatae |
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annual saltmarsh American-aster, annual saltmarsh aster, annual saltmarsh or eastern annual saltmarsh aster, aster subulé, eastern annual saltmarsh aster, Southwestern annual saltmarsh aster |
Greata's aster |
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Habit | Annuals, (10–)30–150 cm; tap-rooted. | Perennials 50–150(–200) cm, colonial; long-rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | 1, erect (often with purple or purplish brown areas), glabrous or glabrate, sometimes strigillose in leaf axils. |
1–5, ascending to erect, sparsely hispid distally. |
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Leaves | thin (green to dark green), margins often strigilloso-ciliolate, faces glabrous; basal withering by flowering, long-petiolate (petiole bases sheathing), sparsely ciliate, blades ovate to oblanceolate, 10–90 × 6–14 mm, bases attenuate to cuneate, rounded, margins entire or serrulate or crenulate, apices rounded, obtuse, or acute; proximal cauline withering by flowering, petiolate, subpetiolate, or sessile, blades narrowly lanceolate or subulate, 20–100(–200) × 1.5–10(–20) mm, bases attenuate, margins subentire, entire, or serrulate, apices acute to acuminate; distal sessile, blades narrowly lanceolate to subulate, 5–113 × 0.5–5.5 mm, apices acuminate. |
thin, margins entire to serrate, apices acute, faces scabrous; basal withering by flowering, petiolate, blades elliptic to obovate 30–300 × 15–50 mm, attenuate, margins entire to serrate, apices acute, faces rough-hispidulous; proximalmost cauline sometimes withering by flowering, sessile, blades elliptic to obovate, 100–200 × 20–50 mm, bases rounded to ± clasping, sometimes auriculate, apices acute; distal sessile, blades 20–150 × 10–40 mm, bases cuneate, usually auriculate, apices acute. |
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Peduncles | (0.2–)0.5–4 cm, bracts 4–8(–17). |
sparsely hairy, bracts lanceolate to linear. |
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Involucres | cylindric to turbinate, 5–7(–8.2) mm. |
campanulate, 5–8 mm. |
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Ray florets | 16–30(–54) in 1–3 series; corollas white, pink, or lavender, laminae 1.3–7 × 0.2–1.3 mm. |
15–40; corollas violet, laminae 8–15 × 1–2 mm. |
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Disc florets | 4–10(–13); corollas yello, sometimes tinged with purple, 3.4–5.2 mm, throats narrowly funnelform, lobes ± spreading to erect, narrowly triangular, 0.3–0.7 mm, glabrous. |
35–60+; corollas yellow, 3.5–4 mm, lobes triangular, 0.5–0.8 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 3–5 series, broadly or narrowly lanceolate to subulate, unequal, bases indurate, margins hyaline, often purple-tinged, entire, green zones lanceolate (usually narrow, sometimes broad and covering most of distal portion), apices acute, faces glabrous. |
in 4–6 series, narrowly oblong (outer) to linear (inner), unequal to subequal, bases scarious, margins scarious, entire, green zones lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, apices acute, faces glabrate or puberulent. |
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Heads | (10–) 30–100(–150), in open, diffuse, paniculiform arrays. |
in paniculiform arrays, branches 10–30 cm. |
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Cypselae | light brown to purple, narrowly obovoid to fusiform, sometimes ± compressed, (1.2–)1.5–2.7(–3) mm, 5-nerved, faces sparsely strigillose; pappi white, (3–)3.5–5.5 mm. |
brown, cylindric to obovoid, not compressed, 2.5–3.5 mm, 3–4-nerved, faces hairy; pappi white, 3.5–4 mm. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Symphyotrichum subulatum |
Symphyotrichum greatae |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Damp places in chaparral canyons | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 500–1500 m (1600–4900 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; NB; ON; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Bermuda [Widely introduced worldwide]
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CA
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Discussion | Varieties 5 (5 in the flora). Five varieties of Symphyotrichum subulatum are recognized for North America based on differences in chromosome number, ray lamina color and size, array shapes, number of series of ray florets, number of disc and ray florets, and other, more cryptic characters (S. D. Sundberg 2004). These varieties were treated as species by G. L. Nesom (1994b, 2005d). Variety ligulatum is apparently an obligate outcrosser and is the least variable variety (Sundberg). Other varieties are self-compatible, which could facilitate the fixation of mutations in populations. The five varieties are nearly entirely allopatric, and intermediates between pairs of varieties are not uncommon where they approach one another. Populations that are intermediate in ray lamina size between vars. ligulatum and parviflorum are widespread in southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico. Intermediates between vars. elongatum and parviflorum and between vars. elongatum and subulatum occur in Florida. Despite these observations, hybridization experiments and chromosome number differences suggest that the varieties are mostly reproductively isolated (S. D. Sundberg 1986, 2004). In older floras the name Aster exilis Elliott has been applied to Symphyotrichum subulatum vars. ligulatum and parviflorum. The status of this name is uncertain; the type specimen has been lost and the description of the plant is inadequate for determining the taxon to which the name should be applied (G. L. Nesom 1994b; S. D. Sundberg 2004). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. Symphyotrichum greatae is known from the south slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 480. | FNA vol. 20, p. 532. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Astropolium | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Symphyotrichum > sect. Occidentales | ||||||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Aster subulatus | Aster greatae | ||||||||||||||||
Name authority | (Michaux) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 293. (1995) | (Parish) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 283. (1995) | ||||||||||||||||
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