Taxonomy
Family: Asteraceae
Synonymous with Aster spectabilis
Habitat
Dry, sandy soil, often in pine barrens.
Associates
Distribution
Primarily near the coast from MA to SC and AL.
Morphology
Rhizomatous perennial; stems 10-90 cm, usually densely glandular above or sometimes only spreading-villous; leaves mostly basal, firm, scabrous or glabrous, entire to remotely and shallowly toothed, the lower ones elliptic, tapering to a well-developed petiole, those above more oblong and becoming sessile and somewhat reduced and distant; heads few to many in an open, corymbiform, sparsely leafy-bracteate inflorescence; involucres 8-16 mm; involucral bracts broad, firm, more or less imbricate, with loose of spreading green tips, the inner densely glandular, the outer sometimes viscid-villous as well; rays 15-35, violet-purple, 1-2.5 cm.
Notes
Flowers: July to October
Wetland indicator: NA
Rare throughout much of its range. These photos were taken in southern NJ.
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
Michael Hough © 2018 |