Eastern Silvery Aster
Symphyotrichum concolor (L.) G.L. Nesom is native to sandy and loamy soils, roadsides, oak scrub, pine flatwoods, and fields on the Coastal Plains east of the Mississippi River and on the Piedmont Plateau From Massachusetts to Florida west to southern Kentucky and eastern Louisiana (Brouillet et al. 2006 FNA). The species is distinguished by its densely hairy silvery leaves and its wand shaped inflorescence of heads violet-purple rays (very rarely white). The species is x=4 and predominantly diploid (2n=8) with tetraploids (2n=16) occurring in the Florida panhandle.
Two varieties are recognized:
Upper stem leaves and phyllaries moderately to densely silky var. concolor
Upper stem leaves and phyllaries glabrous or sparsely hispido-pilose var. devestitum (S. F. Blake) Semple
Semple, J.C. 2004. Miscellaneous nomenclatural changes in Astereae (Asteraceae). Sida 21: 759-765.
Brouillet, L., J.C. Semple, G.A. Allen, K. Chambers and S. Sundberg. 2006. Symphyotrichum Nees. pp. 465-539. In Flora North America Editorial Committee, eds. Flora of North America. Vol. 20. Asteraceae, Part 2. Astereae and Senecioneae. Oxford University Press, New York.
Last updated 3 April 2025 by J.C. Semple
© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated
1-6 Symphyotrichum concolor. 1. Inflorescence, var. devestitum, Holmes Co., Florida. 2. Rootstock, var. concolor. 3-4. Inflorescence and heads, var. devestitum, Holms Co., Florida. 5. Phyllaries, var. concolor, Semple et al. 3930, Suwanee Co. Florida, 2n=8. 6. Phyllaries, var. devestitum, Semple et al. 3880, Santa Rosa Co., Florida, 2n=16.