Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

SALTMARSH ASTER

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Symphyotrichum subulatum (Michx. ) G.L. Nesom

[=Aster subulatus Michx. var. ligulatus Shinners]

Carter County, Oklahoma

Annual

Height: 4-40 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: August, September,October

Stems:

Erect or prostrate, much branched above, glabrous.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, sessile, linear to linear-lanceolate, 1/2 to 7 inches long, 1/12 to 1 inch wide, margins entire or remotely serrate, upper leaves much reduced.

Inflorescences:

Heads in panicle-like, diffuse arrays.

Flowers:

Involucre 1/5 to 1/3 inch tall; involucral bracts overlapping in 3 or 4 series, tapering to point, greenish toward apex, tip reddish or purple; ray florets 15-30 or more, ligule 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, purple to pink or white; disk florets numerous, yellowish.

Fruits:

Achenes, tiny, glabrous, brownish; pappus of hair-like bristles.

Habitat:

Low, damp or drying sites; saline soils.

Distribution:

Principally in central and south-central Kansas.

Forage Value:

Rarely grazed by livestock.

Comments:

A weedy species that can be a problem in lawns.

Saltmarsh aster