Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Serpentine Aster is a small and delicate aster, growing just 1-2 feet tall... Basal leaves are absent at flowering time, and some stem leaves are withering; stem leaves are lance-shaped, stalkless, up to 1.5 inches long. The inflorescence occupies half of the plant height, with many spreading to ascending branches, abundant tiny bracts, and many small heads with tiny white rays. It may resemble small examples of some of our other white-flowered asters, including the usually pale-blue flowered S. dumosum, but the glade/barrens habitat should separate it. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Aster depauperatus
COMMON NAME:
Serpentine Aster
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_asde9_001_lvd
COMPARE
small white asters
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_3452638988398641
May Granville County NC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Symphyotrichum depauperatum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Aster depauperatus
4790
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Glades and barrens over ultramafic (serpentine) or mafic (diabase) rocks, 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
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: White
Disc: Yellow becoming brown
Flower heads with 7-14 ray flowers
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
Flower heads in open wide paniculiform arrays (branches arching & abundantly bracteate)
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
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".