Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Test-drive A Teaching Key to Asters.
See herbarium specimens at the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants.
Bushy Aster is one of several species with wide-spreading, branchy growth and small heads with short pale blue to white rays -- indeed looking like a slender "bush". As a group they present a challenge to the field botanist. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Symphyotrichum dumosum
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-037:
Aster dumosus FAMILY Asteraceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster coridifolius
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster dumosus
COMMON NAME:
Bushy Aster, Long-stalked Aster, Rice Button Aster
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_asdu_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm200517_4956
May Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm190722_0102
July Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm190726_0201
July Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Leaves firm, margins entire to crenulate-serrate, recurved, scabrous, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm210807_2500
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm160913_027
September Greenville County SC
Inflorescence a loose panicle with numerous bracteal leaves, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm160923_736
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm180918_4799
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm200926_7361
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm200926_7373
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm200926_7374
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm200926_7381
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Rays 14-20, white or blue to lavender; disc flowers yellow or red, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm200926_7382
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Involucres cylindro-campanulate. Phyllaries appressed or slightly spreading, per Flora of North America.
COMPARE
involucral bracts of North American asters
)
JK Marlow jkm220909_9835
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
COMPARE
small white asters
)
JK Marlow jkm121004_214
October Greenville County SC
Normal leaves are linear, but the foliage at flowering mostly short bractlike leaves on branches, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm121004_221
October Greenville County SC
Leaves linear to narrowly elliptic, smooth to scabrous above, glabrous beneath, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm121004_225b
October Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm201015_7705
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Pappus whitish, 3-4mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm211027_4636
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm221004_0163
October Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (10/20/20):
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America
Symphyotrichum dumosum
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-037:
Aster dumosus
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster coridifolius
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster dumosus
154
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Old fields, disturbed areas, pastures, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate (basal leaves absent or withered at flowering)
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: White to light blue-violet
Disc: Yellow becoming reddish-purple
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
Flower heads with 14-20 ray flowers
Inferior ovary
Flower heads in spreading panicles
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p018
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p108
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p458
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p181
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p113
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p275
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p325
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p212
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p163
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p083