Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Test-drive A Teaching Key to Asters.
Read more about Heartleaf Aster at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-007:
Aster cordifolius FAMILY Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster cordifolius
COMMON NAME:
Heartleaf Aster, Common Blue Wood Aster
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_asco4_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm160919_192
September Polk County NC
Pearson's Falls
Phyllaries with lanceolate diamond-shaped blaze (2-3x long as wide), per Weakley's Flora (2015).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of North American asters
)
JK Marlow jkm111008_749
October Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
Flowers in a paniculate inflorescence, heads 1/2-3/4" wide, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm111008_753
October Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm121006_323
October Washington County VA
Virginia Creeper Trail
Ray florets (8)10-16(20). Disc florets cream or light yellow becoming purple, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm121024_695
October Cherokee County NC
Murphy River Walk
)
JK Marlow jkm121024_695b
October Cherokee County NC
Murphy River Walk
Bract tips dark green. — Ron Lance
)
JK Marlow jkm121024_702704
October Cherokee County NC
Murphy River Walk
Basal & lower cauline leaves toothed, with slender petioles & cordate bases, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
COMPARE
asters with heart-shaped leaves
)
JK Marlow jkm121024_709
October Cherokee County NC
Murphy River Walk
Distalmost leaves usually sessile or subsessile, margins serrate or entire, per Flora of North America.
)
JK Marlow jkm111106_272
November Jackson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm111106_278
November Jackson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm211112_4891
November Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm211112_4892b
November Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm221108_0612
November Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm221108_0614
November Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-007:
Aster cordifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster cordifolius
151
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Rich forests, shaded roadbanks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains, uncommon in Carolina Piedmont (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate (basal leaves absent or withered at flowering)
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Blue/ Pale violet
(rarely white)
Disc: Cream or light yellow becoming reddish-purple
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
Flower heads in dense panicles
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Tan
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p107
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p124
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p139
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p151
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p152
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p454
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p120
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p276
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p325
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p208
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