Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
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 Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Symphyotrichum dumosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
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.
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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
Rameal leaves [those growing on a branch] uniform or nearly so, per Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950).
)
JK Marlow jkm160923_736
September Greenville County SC
Inflorescence a loose panicle with numerous bracteal leaves, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm180918_4799
September Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm200926_7361
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
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JK Marlow jkm220909_9835
September Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
COMPARE
small white asters
)
JK Marlow jkm230905_5221
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Primary leaves linear to narrowly oblong, blunt or abruptly mucronate; rameal lvs much reduced, per Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950).
)
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
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5739
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5740
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Heads scattered on copiously small-bracteolate branchlets or pedicels, per Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950).
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5741
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Phyllaries oftenest with rhombic or dilated tips, per Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950).
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5745
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Involucres 4.5-6mm high [vs. those of S. racemosum var. subdumosum 3-3.6mm high], per Gray's Manual of Botany (Fernald, 1950).
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5746
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5747
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Peduncles (at least some) > 2cm long, w numerous small, closely-spaced bracts mostly 1-4mm long, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5767
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm231001_5768
October Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Mostly not strongly rhizomatous (sometimes with multiple stems from short-creeping rhizomes), per Weakley's Flora (2023).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum dumosum var. dumosum
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Symphyotrichum dumosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
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
Common
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
Flower heads with 14-20 ray flowers
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
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
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p555
- 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
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".