HAIRY ASTER
File Size: 75 KB
 
Symphyotrichum pilosum   (Willd. ) G.L. Nesom
[=Aster pilosus Willd.]
Riley County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 1-5 feet
Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
Flowering Period:   September,October
Stems: Erect, simple below, branching above, stiff-hairy or nearly glabrous.
Leaves: Lower stem leaves usually absent at flowering, sometimes persist and forming basal rosettes, simple, stalked, oblanceolate to ovate, generally less than 4 inches long and 3/4 inch wide, bristly hairy; upper leaves reduced, alternate, mostly sessile, narrowly linear, stiff; margins entire to slightly toothed; tips with stiff bristles or flexible points.
Inflorescences: Open, panicle-like clusters; heads numerous, directed to 1 side on spreading lateral branches.
Flowers: Heads about 1/2 inch wide; bracts overlapping; tips sharp-pointed, green, in-rolled; ray florets 15-35, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, white or rarely pinkish; disk florets approximately 30-35, corollas yellowish.
Fruits: Achenes, tiny, pubescent, tipped with numerous white, hair-like bristles, enclosing small seed.
Habitat: Dry, open, sandy or rocky sites, roadsides, meadows, waste areas, thickets, and open woodlands.
Distribution: East 1/3 of Kansas.
Comments: Hairy aster is often found in overgrazed pastures and other disturbed sites.

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