WILLOWLEAF ASTER
File Size: 71 KB
 
Symphyotrichum praealtum   (Poir. ) G.L. Nesom
[=Aster praealtus Poir.]
Johnson County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 20-60 inches
Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
Flowering Period:   September,October
Also Called: Tall aster.
Stems: Erect to ascending, solitary, stout, nearly glabrous to pubescent, somewhat waxy or reddish, branching above.
Leaves: Alternate, thick, firm, sessile; lower leaves falling by flowering; stem leaves linear-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 1.6 to 6 inches long, to 3/5 inch wide; upper surface smooth to rough; lower surface mostly smooth, veins in prominent network of spaces of nearly equal dimensions; margins entire to weakly toothed, often rolled under; tips pointed; progressively reduced upward; upper stem leaves with axillary leaf clusters.
Inflorescences: Panicle-like clusters, open, leafy; branches ascending to spreading; heads numerous, 60-100+.
Flowers: Heads 3/5 to 1 inch in diameter; involucre bell-shaped, to 1/3 inch tall; bracts unequal, overlapping in several series, tips often reddish-purple; ray florets 6-35, to 1/2 inch long, bluish or lavender, rarely white; disk florets 20-35, light yellow turning pinkish purple.
Fruits: Achenes, egg-shaped, less than 1/12 inch long, pubescent, brownish or purplish, tipped by numerous white hair-like bristles, enclosing small seed.
Habitat: Wet low ground, moist meadows, prairie swales, stream and pond edges, open thickets, and roadsides; loamy soil.
Distribution: East 1/3 of Kansas.
Uses: The Navajo used a cold infusion of the plant to treat stomacheaches and internal injuries and smoked the dried leaves to bring luck hunting.
Comments: An important source of nectar for migrating Monarch butterflies.

Willowleaf aster inflorescence
67 KB
Johnson County, Kansas
Willowleaf aster flowering heads
44 KB
Johnson County, Kansas
Willowleaf aster
84 KB
Johnson County, Kansas
Willowleaf aster leaves
79 KB
Johnson County, Kansas
Willowleaf aster leaves
107 KB
Johnson County, Kansas
Willowleaf aster
130 KB
Johnson County, Kansas
Willowleaf aster
55 KB
Johnson County, Kansas