''Symphyotrichum shortii'' (formerly ''Aster shortii''), commonly called Short's aster, is a species of flowering plant in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

. It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

to North America, where it is primarily found in interior areas east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

. Its natural habitat is in thin rocky soils of woodlands and thickets often around limestone bluffs. It is common throughout much of its range, although it is generally restricted to intact natural communities.

Description

''Symphyotrichum shortii'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

growing up to . It produces

flower head 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 ...

s with purple

ray 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 w ...

s in late summer and fall. Unlike many related ''Symphyotrichum'' species, its stem leaves are essentially

entire Entire may refer to: * Entire function, a function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane * Entire (animal) Neutering, from the Latin ''neuter'' ('of neither sex'), is the removal of an animal's reproductive organ, either all of it or a ...

and do not have a winged petiole. It bears a resemblance to the related '' Symphyotrichum oolentangiense'' of farther west, from which ''S. shortii'' can be distinguished by its

cordate Cordate is an adjective meaning ' heart-shaped' and is most typically used for: * Cordate (leaf shape), in plants * Cordate axe, a prehistoric stone tool See also * Chordate A chordate () is an animal of the phylum Chordata (). All chord ...

stem leaves and

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a ...

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 ...

. Symphyotrichum shortii.jpg Symphyotrichum shortii 98260493.jpg Symphyotrichum shortii 98260509.jpg Symphyotrichum shortii 25473217.jpg Symphyotrichum shortii 98260436.jpg

Chromosomes

''S. shortii'' has a base number of eight

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...

s (''x''8).

Diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respecti ...

and

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of (homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

plants with respective chromosome counts of 16 and 32 have been reported.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described and named ''Aster shortii'' by English botanist

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...

in 1834. A natural hybrid of '' S. cordifolium'' and ''S. shortii'' can occur, and this has been named ''Symphyotrichum'' × ''finkii''.

Distribution and habitat

''Symphyotrichum shortii'' is

to North America, where it is primarily found in interior areas east of the

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q15555506, from2=Q38783181 shortii Flora of Ontario Flora of the United States Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plants described in 1834 Taxa named by John Lindley