Symphyotrichum novi-belgii - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Asteraceae
Habitat
Moist places including salt marshes.
Associates
Distribution
Newfoundland to SC, primarily near the coast.
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial; stems 20-140 cm, glabrous except just under the heads or puberulent in lines; leaves mainly cauline, lanceolate to elliptic or oblong or lance-linear; sessile and more or less auriculate clasping to simply narrowed to the base, sharply serrate to entire, glabrous with scabrous-ciliate margins, often thick and firm; heads several or many in an open or leafy-bracteate inflorescence; involucres glabrous, 5-10 mm; involucral bracts sharply acute, imbricate or subequal, usually with some with loose or spreading tips, the green portion tapering and cuneate at the base, or outmost bracts wholly green; rays 20-50, blue to rose or white, 6-14 mm.
Notes
Flowers August to October
Wetland Indicator: NA
This is a highly variable species with a number of showy cultivars, though wild forms of this plant do not seem to be all that spectacular. All images taken in southern NJ. The plants in the first two images are likely var. elodes with narrow lanceolate leaves that scarcely clasp the stem. The plants in the last three images, taken at a nearby location, appear to be typical S. novi-belgii with wider, more oblong leaves that clasp the stem at the base.
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 |