Rayless Annual Aster, Rayless Alkali Aster, aster cilié

Symphyotrichum ciliatum (Ledebour) Nesom is a widely distributed, easy to miss rayless species native to moist, brackish soils, prairies, steppes, salt marshes (Hudson Bay), summer-receding prairie ponds, open grounds in loess hills, irrigation channels, winter-salted highways, railroads, waste ground across northern North America and the steppes of Eurasia westward to Rumania (Brouillet et al. 2016; FNA). The species is introduced east of the Prairies in winter-salted wastegrounds and roadsides.  It is diploid 2n=14.