Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

SPREADING ASTER

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Symphyotrichum patens (Aiton ) G.L. Nesom

[=Aster patens Aiton]

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 8-48 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: August, September,October

Also Called:

Late purple aster.

Stems:

Erect to ascending, 1-5, slender, brittle, moderately to densely pubescent; branches few to several, above mid-point of stem.

Leaves:

Alternate, relatively few; basal leaves absent at flowering; middle and upper stem leaves lanceolate to lance-oblong, 4/5 to 2.8 inches long, 2/5 to 1.6 inch wide, grayish-green, thick, often stiff; surfaces rough, more so on underside; margins entire to minutely-toothed; base with auricles, sessile, conspicuously clasping; tip pointed; upper stem leaves widely separated, progressively reduced, narrowly to broadly ovate; margins entire; much reduced on branches.

Inflorescences:

Open, branching, panicle-like clusters or solitary heads terminating long branches, 1-5 per branch, showy, 4/5 to 1.4 inch across; stalks slender, 4/5 to 6 inches long, with several to many small leaf-liike bracts; involucre bell-shaped, 1/4 to 2/5 inch tall; involcural bracts linear, 1/25 to 1/5 inch long, in 4-8 series, overlapping; tips green or purplish, pointed; bases tan; green portion diamond-shaped; ray florets 15-30, 2/5 to 3/5 inch long, blue or pale lavender, rarely white or pinkish; disk florets 20-50; corollas yellow, cream or white, turing purple.

Fruits:

Achene, egg-shaped, 1/12 to 1/8 inch long, purplish or brown, short silky-hairy, 7-10 longitudinal ribs, tipped with off-white to cream or tan bristles, 1/6 to 1/5 inch long, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Rocky, dry, open deciduous woods, roadsides, old fields, fence rows; dry, rocky or sandy soils.

Distribution:

Southeast 1/4 of Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Spreading aster florets