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Symphyotrichum lanceolatum - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Asteraceae

Habitat

Moist to mesic open areas.

Associates

Distribution

Nova Scotia to NC, west to ND and TX.

Morphology

Herbaceous perennial, colonial by long rhizomes; stems 60-150 cm, pubescent in lines above; leaves all cauline, lanceolate to lance-elliptic to linear, serrate or sometimes entire, glabrous to scabrous above, sessile or tapering to a petiole-like base, sometimes somewhat clasping but scarcely auriculate; main leaves mostly not strongly reticulate, areolae if visible irregular and longer than wide; heads numerous in an elongate leafy inflorescence; involucres 3-6 mm; involucral bracts glabrous except for ciliolate margins, narrow, sharply acute to acutish, strongly imbricate, with elongate, usually appressed green tip; rays 10-20, white or sometimes lavender or blue, 4.5-12 mm; lobes of the disk corollas comprising 30-45% of the limb.

Notes

Flowers  August to October

Wetland Indicator: FACW

A very common and highly variable species. I have been confused by pale blue-flowered forms on more than one occasion.

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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