Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Test-drive A Teaching Key to Asters.
Aromatic Aster is unusual in that its stem and branch leaves are about the same size and shape; also, leaves are very numerous, giving the plant a very busy look. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-016:
Aster oblongifolius FAMILY Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster oblongifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH -
Virgulus oblongifolius
COMMON NAME:
Eastern Aromatic Aster, Shale-barren Aster
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_asob2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm120922_117
September Greenville County SC
SC Native Plant Society Plant Sale
Rays 14-30, blue to violet, 1.5-2cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm120922_119b
September Greenville County SC
SC Native Plant Society Plant Sale
Stems hairy or sticky; leaves rough, stiff, oblong, slightly clasping, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120922_121
September Greenville County SC
SC Native Plant Society Plant Sale
)
JK Marlow jkm120922_121b
September Greenville County SC
SC Native Plant Society Plant Sale
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-016:
Aster oblongifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster oblongifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH
-
Virgulus oblongifolius
161
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: rock outcrops and dry woodlands over limestone, calcareous shale, calcareous prairies, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate (basal sometimes persistent)
FLOWER:
WinterSummer/Fall
Rays: Blue/ Violet
Disc: Yellow becoming brown or reddish-purple
Flower heads with 14-30 ray flowers
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
Flower heads in corymb-like or loose panicle-like arrays, branches initially spreading then ascending
FRUIT:
WinterSummer/Fall
Brown
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p167
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p109
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p326
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p210
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".