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southern swamp aster

aster à rameaux étalés, white wood-aster

Habit Plants 20–80 cm; in clumps and clones, eglandular; rhizomes creeping, herbaceous and thin, becoming thick and woody, scaly. Plants 28–90(–120) cm, in ± dense clones (lacking sterile rosettes); rhizomes branched, elongate, becoming woody.
Stems

1–10+, erect, often reddish, simple, straight (brittle), proximally glabrous, glabrescent, or sparsely strigillose, distally strigillose or ± villoso-hirsute (at least in arrays).

1, erect, simple, flexuous, glabrate to sparsely puberulent proximally, densely puberulent distally.

Leaves

basal and cauline, firm, only midnerves evident, margins indurate, entire or sometimes remotely spinulose-serrate, scabrous, spines indurate, ± pronounced, apices mucronate or indurate, abaxial faces glabrous or scabrous, adaxial sparsely hirtellous, distal often more hairy;

basal and proximalmost cauline withering by flowering, petioles (often marcescent, to 20 mm), bases sheathing, blades elliptic to lanceolate (basal) or linear-lanceolate, ± arcuate (proximal), 15–103 × 5–9 mm, bases cuneate, apices obtuse (basal) to acute;

cauline progressively sessile (petioles more winged) and reduced, blades lanceolate or linear-lanceolate to linear, ± arcuate, 18–132+ × 2–6 mm, margins sometimes revolute, apices acute.

basal and cauline, thin, margins sharply serrate, teeth (6–15 per side) mucronulate, ciliate, apices acuminate, abaxial faces sparsely strigose or villous, particularly villous along veins, adaxial glabrescent to sparsely strigose, veins sparsely stipitate-glandular;

basal and proximal withering by flowering, petiolate (petioles 20–70 mm), blades ovate, 19–65 × 17–60 mm, basal smaller than proximal, bases cordate (sinuses narrow, curved);

cauline petiolate, petioles often ± winged (15–70 mm), blades ovate, 20–200 × 10–100 mm, bases cordate to rounded;

distal (arrays) usually sessile, sometimes subpetiolate, blades ovate to lanceolate, 5–20 × 1–8 mm, bases rounded.

Peduncles

ascending, usually mostly 1–10+ cm (seldom not elongating, sometimes those of young heads appearing short or absent), thin, hirtello-puberulent to villoso-hirsute;

bracts 2–5, often 1–2 subtending heads, sometimes phyllary-like (bases pale, indurate).

to 1.5 cm, densely hairy, eglandular;

bracts 0(–2).

Involucres

campanulate, 9–11 mm, much shorter than pappi.

cylindro-campanulate, 4.2–6 mm, much shorter than pappi.

Ray florets

15–35;

corollas deep lavender to purple, (10–)15–20 × 1–2.3 mm.

5–10(–12);

corollas white, 6–12 × 1.5–2.2 mm.

Disc florets

25–60;

corollas yellow, 5.5–7 mm, slightly ampliate, tubes much shorter than cylindro-funnelform throats, lobes spreading, lanceolate-acuminate, 0.75–1.1 mm.

12–19(–25);

corollas yellow, 4.1–4.8(–5.5) mm, abruptly ampliate, tubes (2.3–2.6 mm) longer than campanulate throats (0.9–1.2 mm), lobes reflexed, lanceolate, 0.7–1.4 mm.

Phyllaries

40–65+ in 4–5 series, lanceolate or oblong (outer) to linear-oblanceolate or linear (inner), unequal, membranous, bases indurate, rounded (particularly outer), green zones well defined, slightly expanded in distal 1/3–2/3 (foliaceous), reaching margins (outer wholly foliaceous, outermost are bracts subtending heads) to 1/6 or less and not reaching margins or none (inner), margins sometimes distally purplish (particularly inner), indurate, narrowly scarious, erose proximally to nearly completely so (inner), densely ciliate proximally (scarious part) to distally scabrous (foliaceous part), apices loose and often spreading, sometimes squarrose, obtuse to sometimes acute, mucronate, faces sparsely to densely strigillose.

25–30 in 4–5 series, inner purplish distally, oblong (outer) to lanceolate or linear-lanceolate (inner), strongly unequal, bases indurate, green zones in distal 1/2 (outer) to 1/3 or along distal midveins (inner), margins narrowly scarious, densely fimbriate-ciliate, apices rounded to acute, faces sparsely hairy, sometimes sparsely stipitate-glandular;

outer 0.7–1.5 mm wide, lengths seldom more than 2.5 times widths.

Heads

(1–)4–10+ in open, corymbiform arrays, seldom borne singly, with ascending branches.

4–50(–100+) in ± flat-topped corymbiform arrays.

Cypselae

stramineous to tawny, cylindric to narrowly obovoid, slightly compressed, 2.3–3.6 mm, ribs 10–16, sparsely strigillose;

pappi of stramineous (firm, sometimes apically clavellate) bristles 5–6.7 mm, ± equaling disc corollas.

brown, cylindro-obovoid, slightly compressed, 2.6–3.8 mm, ribs 7–10 (tan to stramineous), faces sparsely strigillose;

pappi of reddish to cream-colored (fine, barbellulate, sometimes apically ± clavate) bristles 3.7–5 mm, equaling or longer than disc corollas.

2n

= 36.

= 18.

Eurybia paludosa

Eurybia divaricata

Phenology Flowering late summer–fall. Flowering late summer–fall.
Habitat Moist savannas, margins of pools and swamps, low pinelands, seldom on sand hills of coastal plains, open hammocks Dry to mesic, eastern deciduous and mixed deciduous woods, edges and clearings, roadsides
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft) 0–1200(–1700) m (0–3900(–5600) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; GA; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; CT; DC; DE; GA; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV; ON; QC [Introduced in Europe (Netherlands)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eurybia paludosa is often confused with E. hemispherica, with which it is closely related. It is present on the Atlantic coastal plain from North Carolina to northeastern Florida. The two species are disjunct geographically and ecologically, even when they occur in the same states. In North Carolina, for instance, E. paludosa is coastal while E. hemispherica is found in the mountains. In northern Florida, the former is found only in Nassau County, while the latter is present only in the western panhandle. Their ranges do not overlap.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Eurybia divaricata is a mainly Appalachian element of the eastern North American deciduous forest. It is often confused with Eurybia chlorolepis (see W. F. Lamboy 1992 for distinction between the two species), E. schreberi, or Symphyotrichum cordifolium. Lamboy provided a map of the species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 20, p. 380. FNA vol. 20, p. 374.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Eurybia Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Eurybia
Sibling taxa
E. avita, E. chlorolepis, E. compacta, E. conspicua, E. divaricata, E. eryngiifolia, E. furcata, E. hemispherica, E. integrifolia, E. jonesiae, E. macrophylla, E. merita, E. mirabilis, E. radula, E. radulina, E. saxicastelli, E. schreberi, E. sibirica, E. spectabilis, E. spinulosa, E. surculosa, E. ×herveyi
E. avita, E. chlorolepis, E. compacta, E. conspicua, E. eryngiifolia, E. furcata, E. hemispherica, E. integrifolia, E. jonesiae, E. macrophylla, E. merita, E. mirabilis, E. paludosa, E. radula, E. radulina, E. saxicastelli, E. schreberi, E. sibirica, E. spectabilis, E. spinulosa, E. surculosa, E. ×herveyi
Synonyms Aster paludosus, Heleastrum paludosum Aster divaricatus, Aster boykinii, Aster castaneus, Aster corymbosus, Aster corymbosus var. alatus, Aster excavatus, Aster flexilis, Aster stilettiformis, Aster tenebrosus, Biotia corymbosa, Biotia corymbosa var. alata, Biotia macrophylla var. divaricata, E. corymbosa
Name authority (Aiton) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 261. (1995) (Linnaeus) G. L. Nesom: Phytologia 77: 259. (1995)
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