Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Symphyotrichum shortii
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Test-drive A Teaching Key to Asters.
See herbarium specimens at the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants.
Read more about Symphyotrichum at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The lower stem leaves are indeed reminiscent of the leaves of Asplenium rhizophyllum (formerly known as Camptosorus), explaining one of Small's names for this species. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum shortii
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum shortii
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Symphyotrichum shortii
INCLUDING New combinations in the Florida flora (Ward, 2001)
Aster shortii var. camptosorus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Symphyotrichum shortii
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Aster shortii
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster camptosorus
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster shortii
COMMON NAME:
Short's Aster, Midwestern Blue Heart-leaved Aster
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_assh_001_lvd
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Symphyotrichum shortii
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum shortii
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum shortii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Symphyotrichum shortii
INCLUDING
New combinations in the Florida flora (Ward, 2001)
Aster shortii var. camptosorus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Symphyotrichum shortii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Aster shortii
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster camptosorus
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aster shortii
168
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Dry, rocky slopes; rock outcrops in wooded situations, calcareous hammocks (in FL), per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina & Georgia
Rare in GA (historically in NC, but not recently seen)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate (basal rosette usually absent or withered at flowering)
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Blue/ Violet/ Pale blue-violet
(rarely pinkish or white)
Disc: Cream or light yellow becoming reddish-purple
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
Flower heads in leafy panicles
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
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) p140
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p109
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p454
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p276
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p325
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".