Geyer’s aster

(Symphyotrichum laeve var. geyeri)

Conservation Status

 

No image available

 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACU - Facultative upland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

The stem is smooth and hairless or nearly hairless, reddish, and often covered with a whitish, waxy bloom (glaucous).

Lower stem leaves are on winged petioles. The base of the leaf is never heart-shaped. Middle stem leaves clasp the stem at the base and are less than 5 times as long as wide. Upper stem leaves are stalkless. The upper and lower leaf surfaces are smooth and hairless or nearly hairless. They sometimes have a grayish or bluish tint.

The bracts of the involucre (phyllaries) have a long, green, lance-shaped tip. The flower head has 15 to 30 lavender, light blue, or purple ray florets.

The tuft of feathery hairs at the tip of the achene (pappus) is usually light brown, often reddish.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

12 to 36

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Blue to purple

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Common smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve var. laeve) green tips of the phyllaries are diamond-shaped, not lance-shaped.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Dry to moderate moisture. Prairies, woods. Full to partial sun.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

August to October

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

7, 29, 30.

 
  6/18/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

 

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Asteranae  
 

Order

Asterales (sunflowers, bellflowers, fanflowers, and allies)  
 

Family

Asteraceae (sunflowers, daisies, asters, and allies)  
  Subfamily Asteroideae  
  Supertribe Asterodae  
  Tribe Astereae (asters and allies)  
  Subtribe Symphyotrichinae  
  Genus Symphyotrichum (American asters)  
  Subgenus Symphyotrichum (common American asters)  
  Section Symphyotrichum (bushy, eastern, heart-leaved, and old field asters)  
  Subsection Heterophylli (heart-leaf panicled asters)  
  Species Symphyotrichum laeve (smooth blue aster)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Aster geyeri

Aster laevis var. geyeri

Aster laevis var. guadalupensis

Aster pickettianus

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Geyer’s aster

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Clasping

Describing a leaf that wholly or partly surrounds the stem but does not fuse at the base.

 

Glaucous

Pale green or bluish gray due to a whitish, powdery or waxy film, as on a plum or a grape.

 

Involucre

A whorl of bracts beneath or surrounding a flower or flower cluster.

 

Pappus

The modified calyx composed of awns, scales, bristles, or feather-like hairs in plants of the Asteraceae family.

 

Phyllary

An individual bract within the involucre of a plant in the Asteraceae family.

 
 
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