''Symphyotrichum subulatum'' (formerly ''Aster subulatus''), commonly known as eastern annual saltmarsh aster or, in Britain and Ireland where it is naturalized, annual saltmarsh aster, is an

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual * Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

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 ...

native to the eastern United States and the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Missis ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The species grows primarily in coastal

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

es, although in the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant por ...

it occurs as a non-marine weedy variety.

Description

''Symphyotrichum subulatum'' is an

forb that possesses a single erect stem that can reach up to in height. The stem, along with its thin green to dark green leaves, are both hairless. The sheathing base-blades of the leaves are ovulate, and the margins are

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 ...

. The top of the stem extends into a

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the sh ...

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 ...

. The heads open up into bright 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 that are surrounded by

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 that vary in color from white to lavender. Aster subulatus heads1 (11972029663).jpg, ''S. subulatum'' Symphyotrichum subulatum 114887428.jpg, ''S. subulatum'' base Symphyotrichum subulatum var sandwicensis leaves.jpg, ''S. subulatum'' stem and leaves

Taxonomy

The species' full scientific name is ''Symphyotrichum subulatum'' (Michx.) G.L.Nesom. , three varieties of ''S. subulatum'' were accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants ...

(POWO), with ''S. subulatum'' var. ''subulatum'' as the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

: *''S. subulatum'' var. ''subulatum'' *''S. subulatum'' var. ''elongatum'' (Boss. ex A.G.Jones & Lowry) S.D.Sundb. *''S. subulatum'' var. ''squamatum'' (Spreng.) S.D.Sundb. The varieties ''S. subulatum'' var. ''ligulatum'' (Shinners) S.D.Sundb. and ''S. s.'' var. ''parviflorum'' (Nees) S.D.Sundb., , are accepted at the species level by POWO as ''

Symphyotrichum divaricatum ''Symphyotrichum'' () is a genus of over 100 species and naturally occurring hybrids of herbaceous annual plant, annual and perennial plants in the composite family Asteraceae, most which were formerly treated within the genus ''Aster (genus), ...

'' (Nutt.) G.L.Nesom and ''Symphyotrichum expansum'' (Poepp. ex Spreng.) G.L.Nesom, respectively. , ''S. s.'' var. ''parviflorum'' (Nees) S.D.Sundb. is accepted at the species level by

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic I ...

(COL) as ''

Symphyotrichum parviflorum ''Symphyotrichum parviflorum'' (formerly ''Symphyotrichum subulatum'' var. ''parviflorum'') is an annual and herbaceous plant commonly known as southwestern annual saltmarsh aster. It is native to Mexico, the Caribbean, most of Central Americ ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

''Symphyotrichum subulatum'' is a terrestrial species that will typically grow among grasses of any kind. It is found in salt marshes, pond margins, sloughs, swamps, crop field margins, lawns, and roadsides. It is thought to be especially prevalent in these areas because of a tolerance to saline soils and mowing. It is native to the eastern and Gulf Coast areas of the United States. It is also common across Mexico, the West Indies, Bermuda, Central America, and South America, depending on variety.

Uses

According to the

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin is the state botanical garden and arboretum of Texas. The center features more than 900 species of native Texas plants in both garden and natural settings and is ho ...

, eastern annual saltmarsh aster can be planted to attract butterflies and has value for native bees.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q19848978, from2=Q11076127, from3=Q24691728, from4=Q24691719, from5=Q24691727 subulatum Flora of Ontario Flora of the United States Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of South America Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plants described in 1803 Taxa named by André Michaux