Aster cordifolius L.

  • Authority

    Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

  • Family

    Asteraceae

  • Scientific Name

    Aster cordifolius L.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants with a branched caudex or short rhizome, occasionally with creeping rhizomes as well; stems 2-12 dm, glabrous below the infl or occasionally loosely hairy (chiefly in lines); lvs rather thin, sharply toothed, acuminate, ± scabrous or scaberulous above, at least toward the margins, and ± hirsute beneath with mostly long, flattened hairs, narrowly to broadly ovate, the larger ones 3.5-15 × 2.5-7.5 cm, all but the reduced ones of the infl cordate (usually deeply so) and petiolate, the petioles shorter upward but only slightly if at all winged; infl paniculiform, with loosely ascending to widely spreading branches and often very numerous heads, the peduncles usually well developed and ± bracteolate, sometimes to 1.5 cm; invol 3-6 mm, glabrous, its narrow bracts imbricate, obtuse or merely acute, the green tip short and broad (or in the innermost more elongate), the green usually partly (or wholly) replaced or obscured by anthocyanin, visibly so to the naked eye in some of them; rays 8-20, blue or purple (white), 5-10 mm; achenes glabrous; 2n=16, ?18, 32, ?36. Woods and clearings; N.S. to Minn., s. to Va., n. Ga., nw. Ala., and Mo. An apparent hybrid with no. 28 [Aster shortii Lindl.] has been named A. ×finkii Rydb.

  • Common Names

    common blue heart-leaved aster