Symphyotrichum tenuifolium |
Symphyotrichum campestre |
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perennial saltmarsh American-aster, perennial saltmarsh aster |
meadow aster, western meadow aster |
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Habit | Perennials, (20–)40–60(–100) cm, colonial or cespitose; rhizoma-tous. | Perennials, 10–40 cm, colonial or cespitose; long-rhizomatous. | ||||
Stems | 1–5+, ascending to erect (often with purple or purplish brown areas, flexuous, wiry), little-branched, usually glabrous, sometimes hairy in lines distally. |
1–5+, ascending to erect (light to dark brown), proximally glabrous, distally strigose, stipitate-glandular. |
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Leaves | thick (fleshy), margins entire, faces glabrous; basal withering by flowering (new winter rosettes appearing at flowering), petiolate (petioles sheathing), blades ovate or oblanceolate, 15–20 × 5–15 mm, bases cuneate, apices rounded; proximal cauline withering by flowering, usually sessile, blades lanceolate, linear-lanceolate or -oblanceolate, to linear, 7–80(–150) × 1–6 (–12) mm, bases attenuate, margins entire, apices acuminate to acute; distal sessile, blades narrowly lanceolate to subulate, 10–110 × 0.5–5 mm, apices acuminate. |
(light green) firm, margins entire, scabrous; basal sometimes persistent, sessile, blades (1–3-nerved) linear-oblanceolate, 10–30 × 4–10 mm, bases attenuate, apices obtuse, mucronate, faces glabrate to sparsely scabrous; proximal cauline withering by flowering, sessile, blades (3-nerved) narrowly oblanceolate, 20–80 × 2–8 mm, bases cuneate, apices obtuse to acute, mucronulate or white-spinulose, faces glabrous or moderately short-strigose, stipitate-glandular; distal sessile, blades linear-oblanceolate to -lanceolate or oblong (distally), 20–50 × 2–5 mm, ± reduced distally, bases ± clasping to cuneate, apices acute, mucronulate, faces glabrous or moderately short-strigose, stipitate-glandular. |
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Peduncles | 0.6–4 (–6) cm, bracts 2–8, awl-shaped, grading into phyllaries. |
sparsely to moderately short-strigose, moderately stipitate-glandular, bracts ± ascending, linear to narrowly-lanceolate. |
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Involucres | narrowly turbinate, 4.1–9.5(–11) mm. |
campanulate to cylindro-campanulate, 5.5–8 mm. |
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Ray florets | 10–25; corollas white or pink, laminae (4.5–)5–8.5(–9.5) × 1.2–2 mm. |
15–31; corollas violet, laminae (5–)6–15 × 1–2 mm. |
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Disc florets | 25–45(–54); corollas yellow becoming purplish, 3.4–6(–6.8) mm, tubes shorter than to equaling the narrowly funnelform throats (sparsely hairy at base), lobes ± erect, narrowly triangular, 0.5–0.8 mm. |
25–40; corollas yellow, 4.5–6 mm, lobes triangular, 0.4–0.8 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 4–5 series, lanceolate to subulate, bases indurate, rounded, margins hyaline, often tinged with purple, entire, green zones spatulate to oblanceolate-rhombic, apices acute, adaxial faces glabrous or minutely hairy distally. |
in 3–4 series, linear to lanceolate, subequal to unequal, bases ± indurate, margins scarious, green zones covering distal portion, apices acute to acuminate, outer ± foliaceous, spreading to reflexed, faces glabrate, sparsely to densely stipitate-glandular. |
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Heads | (1–)3–20(–40), in open, diffuse, paniculiform arrays, branches patent. |
1–10(–30), borne singly or in paniculiform arrays, branches ascending. |
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Cypselae | light brown, narrowly obovoid to fusiform, sometimes ± compressed, 1.5–4(–4.5) mm, 5–6-nerved, faces sparsely strigillose; pappi tawny to white, 3–6.1 mm. |
light brown, sometimes translucent reddish brown between ribs, narrowly obovoid, ± compressed, 2–2.5 mm, 3–4-nerved (faint), moderately strigose on ribs; pappi tawny, 3.8–6 mm. |
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2n | = 10. |
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Symphyotrichum tenuifolium |
Symphyotrichum campestre |
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Phenology | Flowering Aug–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Open, often dry, disturbed, rocky and sandy soils near ponds and streams, dry grass meadows, open pine-douglas fir forests, plains to montane zones | |||||
Elevation | 1500–2500 m (4900–8200 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; LA; MA; MD; ME; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; RI; SC; TX; VA; West Indies
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CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Along the Gulf of Mexico Coast in central and northern peninsular Florida, vars. tenuifolium and aphyllum intergrade in nearly all characters (S. D. Sundberg 2004). G. L. Nesom (2005d) treated the varieties as species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Two poorly defined varieties of Symphyotrichum campestre have been described. Variety campestre has glabrous or sparsely strigose leaves and occurs in southern British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Bloomer’s Aster, var. bloomeri, has moderately strigose leaves and occurs in California, Nevada, and Oregon. The varieties are not sufficiently distinct to warrant recognition. Symphyotrichum ×columbianum (Piper) G. L. Nesom (syn. Aster columbianus Piper, A. multiflorus Aiton var. columbianus (Piper) S. F. Blake, Virgulus ×columbianus (Piper) Reveal & Keener) is the hybrid between S. campestre and S. ericoides subsp. pansum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 479. | FNA vol. 20, p. 484. | ||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Astropolium | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Symphyotrichum > subg. Virgulus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Aster tenuifolius | Aster campestris, Aster bloomeri, Aster campestris var. bloomeri, S. campestre var. bloomeri, Virgulus campestris | ||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 293. (1995) | (Nuttall) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 276. (1995) | ||||
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