Symphyotrichum pilosum - (image 1 of 4)
Taxonomy
Family: Asteraceae
Habitat
Open, dry habitats.
Associates
Distribution
ME and Nova Scotia to GA and northwest FL, west to southeast MN, NE, KS, and LA.
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial from a stout caudex; stems 10-150 cm; lower leaves oblanceolate and petiolate, deciduous or persistent; upper leaves sessile or nearly so, entire or slightly toothed, linear to lance-elliptic, becoming numerous and reduced above, often subulate; inflorescence often diffuse; heads sometimes secund on copiously subulate-bracteate or nearly naked peduncles 3-40 mm; involucre broadly urn-shaped, constricted above the middle, then flaring, glabrous, 3.5-8 mm; involucral bracts imbricate or subequal, with loose, subulate, marginally inrolled green tips; heads mostly 40-100 flowered; rays 16-35, 5-10 mm.
Notes
Flowers August to November
Wetland Indicator: NA
Can be separated from the many similar white flowered species by the inrolled spinulose tips of the bracts (phyllaries). Plants with more or less glabrous leaves and stems have been called var. pringlei which is less common and primarily found on calcareous sites including limestone pavements and rich fens.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
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© Michael Hough 2018 |