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''Eucephalus vialis'' is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the family
Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...
known by the common name wayside aster. It is native to southwestern
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
and northwestern
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
in the United States.''Eucephalus vialis''.
The Nature Conservancy.
''Eucephalus vialis'' is a perennial herb producing hairy, erect stems up to 1.2 meters (4 feet) tall from a thick
caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a Plant stem, stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, " ...
.''Eucephalus vialis''.
Flora of North America.
It spreads by means of rhizomes.Interagency Conservation Agreement for ''Eucephalus vialis'' (Wayside aster).
BLM, USFS, USFWS.
The middle and upper leaves are widely lance-shaped and measure up to 9 centimeters (3.6 inches) long by 3 cm (1.2 inches) wide. The lower leaves are smaller and scale-like.Wogen, N. M
Management Recommendations for Wayside Aster (Aster vialis (Bradshaw) Blake).
Bureau of Land Management. December 1998.
They are coated with
gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream ( endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface ( exocrine gland). Structure ...
ular hairs. They are dull green and sometimes toothed. The
inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...
is a small or very large array of
flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...
. Each is about a centimeter (0.4 inches) long and has layers of narrow
phyllaries In botanical terminology, a phyllary, also known an involucral bract or tegule, is a single bract of the involucre of a composite flower. The involucre is the grouping of bracts together. Phyllaries are reduced leaf-like structures that form one ...
. Each head contains several yellow
disc floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae we ...
s but no
ray florets The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae we ...
. However, some plants may have
vestigial Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on co ...
rays. Flowering occurs in July through September. While the plants sometimes reproduce sexually via seed, the populations often grow via
vegetative reproduction Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spe ...
. The species is
self-incompatible Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ( ...
and cannot reproduce via
self-fertilization Autogamy, or self-fertilization, refers to the fusion of two gametes that come from one individual. Autogamy is predominantly observed in the form of self-pollination, a reproductive mechanism employed by many flowering plants. However, species ...
. It is an obligate outcrosser and must breed with other individuals, exchanging
pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametop ...
. It is
pollinated Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, ...
by '' Bombus vosnesenskii'' (a bumblebee), ''
Lasioglossum The sweat bee genus ''Lasioglossum'' is the largest of all bee genera, containing over 1700 species in numerous subgenera worldwide.Gibbs, J., et al. (2012)Phylogeny of halictine bees supports a shared origin of eusociality for ''Halictus'' and ...
'' sp. (a sweat bee), '' Epicanta puncticollis'' (a blister beetle), and '' Ochlodes sylvanoides'' (a skipper). ''Eucephalus vialis'' occurs in
Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...
, Jackson, Josephine,
Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads ( highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in eac ...
, and Linn Counties in Oregon and Del Norte and Humboldt Counties in California.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
/ref> Several of these occurrences are relatively recent discoveries and the plant was once considered to be an
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
of the
Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east ...
. It grows mainly on dry sites in
temperate coniferous forest Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needlel ...
habitat. The forest is dominated by ''
Pseudotsuga menziesii The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three ...
'' (Douglas-fir), ''
Arbutus menziesii ''Arbutus menziesii'' or Pacific madrone (commonly madrone or madrona in the United States and arbutus in Canada), is a species of broadleaf evergreen tree in the family Ericaceae, native to the western coastal areas of North America, from Bri ...
'' (Pacific madrone), ''
Chrysolepis chrysophylla ''Chrysolepis chrysophylla'' is a species of flowering shrub or tree in the beech family known by the common names golden chinquapin, giant chinquapin, and western chinquapin. It is native to the Pacific coast of the United States.McMurray, Nan ...
'' (golden chinquapin), and ''
Quercus garryana ''Quercus garryana'' is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Oregon white oak or Oregon oak or, in Canada, the Garry oak. It ...
'' (Oregon white oak). Populations occur in many types of habitat, in all stages of
ecological succession Ecological succession is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire) or more or less. Bacteria allows for the cycling of nutrients such as car ...
, from recently disturbed sites to mature
climax communities In scientific ecology, climax community or climatic climax community is a historic term for a community of plants, animals, and fungi which, through the process of ecological succession in the development of vegetation in an area over time, ...
. The plants do better in sunny location, and are less vigorous in shady habitat; as canopy cover increases, the plants are less common and those that do occur produce fewer flowers. Most of the plants are found in thin forests, openings in the forest, gaps on the forest edges. The plant can sometimes be found on serpentine substrates. Threats to this species include
habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological proces ...
. This is a problem because it separates and isolates populations of the plant, preventing
gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalen ...
. When members of the population can only interbreed within that population,
inbreeding depression Inbreeding depression is the reduced biological fitness which has the potential to result from inbreeding (the breeding of related individuals). Biological fitness refers to an organism's ability to survive and perpetuate its genetic material. ...
can result.
Fire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated a ...
is also a threat, because when the natural
fire regime A fire regime is the pattern, frequency, and intensity of the bushfires and wildfires that prevail in an area over long periods of time. It is an integral part of fire ecology, and renewal for certain types of ecosystems. A fire regime describes t ...
is prevented, the canopy becomes thicker and shades out the plants. Fire also removes the organic layer on the forest floor, which is good for plant because it germinates more easily on bare soil.Newton, R. E., et al. (2010)
Experimental habitat manipulation of wayside aster (''Eucephalus vialis'').
Institute for Applied Ecology, Corvallis, Oregon, USDI Bureau of Land Management, Eugene District, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The species can often be found in areas recently opened up by
clear-cutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...
operations, a form of disturbance that has replaced
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
since presettlement times in the region. This is not a replacement for natural forms of disturbance, because it leads to more rapid regrowth of the canopy. Logging also causes soil disturbance. Other threats include
noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...
s such as ''
Rubus discolor ''Rubus armeniacus'', the Himalayan blackberry or Armenian blackberry, is a species of ''Rubus'' in the blackberry group ''Rubus'' subgenus ''Rubus'' series ''Discolores'' (P.J. Müll.) Focke. It is native to Armenia and Northern Iran, and wide ...
'' (Himalayan blackberry), '' Rubus laciniatus'' (evergreen blackberry), and ''
Cytisus scoparius ''Cytisus scoparius'' (syn. ''Sarothamnus scoparius''), the common broom or Scotch broom, is a deciduous leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe. In Britain and Ireland, the standard name is broom; this name is also used for ot ...
'' (Scot's broom), which
compete Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
with the aster. Weed control is a key action in the preservation of the species. Some plants are affected by seed predation, the browsing of
deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...
, and disruptions in pollinator populations. Livestock grazing is a problem in some locations, causing direct damage to the plants and indirect damage via habitat degradation. Roadside maintenance and road use for recreation may be problems to nearby populations. The Bureau of Land Management,
United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
, and
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
are cooperating to conserve the species. A study has found that experimental thinning of the forest improved the condition of the species by allowing more light to penetrate to the plants, reducing plant mortality, reducing
herbivory A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthp ...
by deer, and increasing the cover of native plants in the area.


References


External links


United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405774 Astereae Flora of California Flora of Oregon Plants described in 1921