Symphyotrichum sericeum

Western Silvery Aster

Symphyotrichum sericeum (Ventenat) G.L. Nesom is native to open, dry, deep, sandy or loamy soils, broken limestone outcrops, open-wooded bluffs, open woods, open calcareous hammocks, prairies, fields, sand barrens, dunes, dry banks, rarely acidic shield rocks from southeastern Manitoba and adjacent Ontario to near southern Lake Michigan and south to Texas in the forest-prairie ecotone zone (Brouillet et al. 2006 FNA).  The species is distinguished by its silvery-silky leaves and phyllaries, open arrays of heads, and cormoid rootstocks. The species is diploid on x=5 (2n=10).

The species is of conservation concern in Indiana, Michigan, and Canada.

Last updated 19 February 2014 by J.C. Semple

© 2014 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated