October, 2003 JB
October, 2003 RJ
October, 2003 RJ
October, 2003 JB
October,2003 JB
October, 2003 RJ
Leaf: Alternate, simple; basal leaves petiolate, lanceolate with long narrow base, to 20 cm long (with petiole) and 3.5 cm wide, petiole winged and pilose (covered with soft, fine hair); blades of basal leaves coarsely serrate; upper and lower sides with fine hairs pressed flat against surface; major veins parallel to midrib; leaves along the stem (cauline leaves) smaller, becoming sessile, narrowly elliptic to linear, fringed with hairs around margin of base.
Flower: Many, crowded into a head with many heads in a cluster, 15 to 30 white ray flowers around 30 to 35 yellowish, tubular disk flowers, each head 1/2 inch (1cm) across; overlapping involucral bracts with somewhat inrolled green tips; blooming August through October.
Fruit: Seedlike achene, elongated, 1 to 2 mm in length, yellow to brown, slightly hairy with a tuft of silky hairs at the tip; ripening September through October.
Stem: Hairy and highly branched, each branch having several flowering heads, upright becoming woody with age; up to 5.5 feet (1.6 m) tall.
Form: Perennial, many-branched, bushy forb.
Discussion
The genus name Aster is the Greek word for "star", referring to the star-shaped flowers. The species name pilosus is from the Latin word pilus for "hair".
Hairy aster is native to the U.S., and is one of the most common asters in the eastern U.S. The many flowers are an important food source for butterflies and bees in late summer and fall.
Several kinds of asters were used medicinally by Native Americans. The Pawnee burned the stems and applied the resulting charcoal to irritated skin. The Ojibwa seasoned fish with aster leaves.
Hairy aster is sometimes used as a cover plant in the restoration of grasslands. It prevents soil erosion and provides some shelter for other, more delicate plants until the plantings become more established. Although it doesn't find a place in formal gardens, hairy aster could be for white, fall color in large, casual settings.
Distinguishing Characteristics
Aster pilosus can be variable with hairless to hairy stems and leaves, as well as having variability in leaf shape. Hairy aster has fewer white ray flowers than annual fleabane which it resembles somewhat. The hardened sharp points of the involucre (whorl of small bracts around or under the flower head) are characteristics of hairy aster.
Associated Plants
Milfoil, giant ragweed, common milkweed, Queen Anne's lace, bluegrass, yarrow.
Distribution
The Hairy aster is distributed across the eastern part of the United States, from Maine to Georgia and west to Minnesota and Nebraska. It is primarily found as a weed of pastures, prairies, meadows, and roadsides, often pioneering in disturbed areas, sometimes found in dry thickets and open woodlands.
Images
Click each small picture to see a larger image.
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Location
N 39.27953° W -89.89061°
In northwest quadrant of a vacant lot next to McDonald's on East Main
Street, Carlinville, Macoupin County, IL.
Copyright
Photos © 2003 Joe Besjak and Ryan Jennings, Carlinville High School,
linke@carlinvilleschools.net
References
Mohlenbrock, Robert H. 1981. Wildflowers of fields, roadsides, and open habitats of Illinois. Illinois Dept. of Conservation, Division of Forest Resources and Natural Heritage, Springfield. 226 pp.
Virginia Tech Weed Identification
Guide
http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/astpi.htm
The
Missouri Flora Website
http://www.missouriplants.com/Whitealt/Aster_pilosus_page.html
Department
of Botany, of the University of Wisconsin
http://www.botany.wisc.edu/wisflora/GenusList.asp
Wisconsin
Plant of the Week, 10/11/99
http://www.klines.org/joanne/Archive/Plant_Pages/plant_pages_7.html
Michael L. Charters.
California
Plant Names, Word Meanings and Name Derivations
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/botanicalterms.html
Kansas
wildflowers and grasses (last modified September 4, 2003)
http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/hairyaster.html
Illinois
Plant Information Network
http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/ilpin/312.co
Mississippi
Valley Archaeology Center, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
http://www.uwlax.edu/mvac/Research/GardenPlants/Herbs/Aster.htm