Family: Asteraceae,
Aster or Composite
Genus: Aster
Description
General: 30-100 cm tall. It hybridizes with A. falcatus.
Growth habit:
Fibrous-rooted perennial, several in clusters
from a thickened stembase or very short rhizome.
Stems:
ascending to erect, branching.
 Leaves: numerous, firm, linear or nearly so, often tipped
with a small spine at tip, seldom over 7 cm long and 5 mm
wide, rough with stiff, spreading or less often flat hairs.
 Flowerheads: small, numerous, tending to grow on one
side of the downward-curved, ascending branches, with
15-25 white rays, 3-8 mm long. The disk is only 4-8 mm
wide. Involucre 4-7 mm high, its bracts well overlapping,
loose or bent backward, the green tips of the outer firm,
round-tipped, with a small bristle.
Flowering time: July-September.
 Fruits: achenes with pappus of small, whitish bristles.
Varieties: plants in our area belong to var. pansus.
Distribution
Open, wet or dry places in the valleys and plains, often
along the drying margins of streams and ponds in parts of
MT. Also in e. WA and s. B.C., s. to UT, CO and e. to MN.
The species is tolerant of alkaline conditions. |
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