Aster
Sp. Pl. 2: 872. 1753.
Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 373. 1754.
| Taxon | Illustrator ⠉ | |
|---|---|---|
 | Baccharis halimifolia Aster alpinus Bellis perennis | Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey Yevonn Wilson-Ramsey |
Perennials [subshrubs, shrubs], 3–300 cm (rhizomatous, rhizomes long or short, plants sometimes with branched caudices). Stems ascending to erect, simple, ± densely hairy [glabrous], sometimes stipitate-glandular. Leaves basal and/or cauline; sessile or petiolate; blades 1-nerved, spatulate, obovate (mainly basal), oblanceolate, lance-oblong, lanceolate, or linear, distal often reduced, margins entire or serrate [lobed], faces hairy. Heads radiate, borne singly or in corymbiform [paniculiform] arrays. Involucres broadly campanulate or hemispheric [cylindro-campanulate], 15–25 mm diam. Phyllaries persistent, 25–50 in 2–4 series, 1-nerved (flat), ovate to lanceolate, unequal to subequal, bases ± scarious, herbaceous distally or not, green zones along midnerves, margins scarious to hyaline, densely villous, strigillose, or glabrous, sometimes ± short-stipitate-glandular. Receptacles flat or convex, pitted, epaleate. Ray-florets 14–55 (–100) [–150] in 1 series, pistillate, fertile; corollas white, pink, purple, blue, or violet. Disc-florets 20–100+, bisexual, fertile; corollas usually yellow (sometimes reddening), slightly ampliate [tubular], tubes shorter than to equaling funnelform or campanulate throats, lobes 5, usually erect to spreading, rarely reflexed, lanceolate; style-branch appendages lanceolate. Cypselae obconic, compressed, 2 marginal ribs, faces ± densely strigillose [glabrous], sometimes short-stipitate-glandular; pappi persistent, of 20–30 white to tawny, ± equal, barbellate, apically usually attenuate, sometimes ± clavate bristles in 1–2 series. x = 9.
Distribution
North America, Eurasia
Discussion
Species ca. 180 (2 in the flora).
Some species of Aster are cultivated and sold in the horticultural trade (J. C. Semple et al. 2002). Some species, notably the type of the genus, Aster amellus Linnaeus, have a large number of cultivars. The genus name is the type of the family name Asteraceae. As circumscribed here, Aster excludes members of the Crinitaria-Galatella-Tripolium complex, which are closer to the Bellidinae (Bellis, Bellium, Bellidiastrum; O. Fiz et al. 2002). Analysis of molecular data shows that Aster in the strict sense includes Diplactis, Kalimeris, Heteropappus, and a few other eastern Asiatic segregates. The relationship of Aster in the strict sense to other Astereae genera is unclear, and the delimitation of subtribe Asterinae in the sense of G. L. Nesom (1994b) is still uncertain.
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
Key
| 1 | Plants scapiform, to 30 cm; basal leaf blades oblanceolate to spatulate, 10–112 mm, cauline blades lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 7–43(–50) mm, margins entire; heads borne singly; phyllaries lanceolate to lance-oblong, subequal; rays pink, white, or lavender (arctic-alpine) | Aster alpinus |
| 1 | Plants leafy-stemmed, to 150(–300) cm; basal leaf blades oblanceolate, 300–500 mm, cauline blades oblanceolate to lanceolate, 40–180 mm, margins coarsely serrate or entire; heads borne in corymbiform arrays; phyllaries ovate to linear-lanceolate, unequal; rays pale lavender or purple (escaped from cultivation) | Aster tataricus |