Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

FENDLER'S ASTER

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Symphyotrichum fendleri (A. Gray ) G.L. Nesom

[=Aster fendleri A. Gray]

Comanche County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 4-16 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September,October

Stems:

Erect, several, branching from base, glandular-hairy above, minutely bristly or sometimes nearly smooth below.

Leaves:

Alternate, sessile but not clasping, mostly linear, 1/2 to 2 inches long, less than 1/6 inch wide, margins bristle-fringed, tips pointed; uppermost leaves reduced to bracts; tufts of reduced leaves sometimes present in axils of principal leaves.

Inflorescences:

Panicle-like, terminal; 3-20 heads per main stem.

Flowers:

Involucre 1/5 to 1/3 inch tall, glandular-hairy, bracts loosely overlapping in several series; inner bracts pressed together, outer somewhat spreading; ray florets about 18, bluish-purple, 1/3 to 2/5 inch long; disk florets numerous, yellow to reddish-purple.

Fruits:

Achenes, flat, hairy, tipped with yellowish-white bristles that are frequently purplish near base, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Pastures and breaks; open, rocky sites.

Distribution:

West 1/2 of Kansas.

Comments:

Fendler's aster is slightly shrubby.

Fendler's aster