Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

HEATH ASTER

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Symphyotrichum ericoides (L. ) G.L. Nesom

[=Aster ericoides L.]

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: September,October

Also Called:

White aster, many-flowered aster.

Stems:

Ascending or erect to almost prostrate, few to many, often clustered, slender, stiff, much-branched, rough hairy above.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, sessile or slightly clasping, linear to linear-lanceolate, 1/2 to 2 inches long, less than 1/4 inch wide, rigid, rough; margins entire; tips pointed; branch leaves much smaller and crowded; most basal and lower stem leaves absent at flowering.

Inflorescences:

Panicles of numerous, densely crowded heads, primarily on 1 side of arching branches.

Flowers:

Heads cylindric to bell-shaped, less than 1/2 inch across; bracts strongly overlapping, tipped with bristles; ray florets 10-18, white or rarely pinkish; disk florets 5-14, corollas yellowish to reddish purple.

Fruits:

Achenes, small, appressed-hairy, purplish brown, tipped with white, hair-like bristles, enclosing small, silky seed.

Habitat:

Dry open prairies, disturbed sites, pastures, and roadsides.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Toxicity:

Known to accumulate selenium, but livestock rarely consume it.

Comments:

This is the most common Kansas aster. It grows in colonies and is drought hardy, with roots that descend 3 to 8 feet. Heath aster is one of the last plants to remain in flower in the autumn. Heath aster lowers the quality of prairie hay.

Heath aster