''Callistephus'' is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the aster 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 w ...

, containing the single species ''Callistephus chinensis''. Its common names include China aster and annual aster.Gilman, E. F. and T. Howe
''Callistephus chinensis''.
Fact Sheet FPS-94. University of Florida IFAS. 1999. It is native to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and Korea.''Callistephus chinensis''.
Missouri Botanical Garden. and it is cultivated worldwide as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

cottage garden The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure. Ho ...

s and as a

cut flower Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...

.''Callistephus chinensis''.
Flora of China.

Description

This 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), ...

biennial plant A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Life cycle In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

with one erect, mostly unbranched stem growing tall. The alternately arranged leaves vary in shape or size. The basal leaves usually fall away before flowering. Leaves around the middle of the stem are a few centimeters long and are borne on winged petioles. The blades have serrated edges. Leaves toward the top may have smooth edges. The large solitary

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 ...

grows at the top of the stem and sometimes on branches. The head is lined with layers of

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 o ...

, those in the outer layer large and leaflike, measuring up to 3 centimeters long. The inner layer can be purple-tinged. The head contains one or two rings of ray florets, most often in shades of reddish purple. The flowering period is from August to October in the northern hemisphere.

Cultivation

This species has been grown and bred extensively in cultivation.

Cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s are available with flowers of many colors, varying heights, and single and double heads. In the wild, they are purple in color. There are several

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s with flowers of different colors. Cultivars with flowers of other colors were obtained in particular by hybridization. Cultivated varieties can have ray florets in most any color, including red, pink, blue, purple, and white. They are up to 3.5 centimeters long. There are many yellow disc florets in the center. The fruit is a rough-textured, glandular, purple-mottled cypsela that turns gray with age. It has a pappus composed of one outer layer of reddish scales and two inner layers of white bristles. It has been in cultivation in Europe since 1728 at the latest. In China, it has been cultivated for 2000 years.

Distribution

This plant is a naturalized species in some areas outside of its native range (

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, etc.) and can be found on the edges of

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

s. It grows at altitudes from 300 to 2700 above mean sea level. As ornamental plant it thrives on fresh, nutrient-rich, easy- humus rich soils in warm humid air conditioning.David John Mabberley: Mabberley's Plant-Book. A portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses . 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press 2008. Page 138.

Pests and diseases

The plants are susceptible to

fusarium wilt Fusarium wilt is a common vascular wilt fungal disease, exhibiting symptoms similar to Verticillium wilt. This disease has been investigated extensively since the early years of this century. The pathogen that causes Fusarium wilt is ''Fusarium ...

, a

fungal A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

disease. Some cultivars are more resistant to this than others.

Pest insects Economic entomology is a field of entomology, which involves the study of insects that benefit or harm humans, domestic animals, and crops. Insects that cause losses are termed as pests. Some species can cause indirect damage by spreading disea ...

can include

leafhopper A leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and a ...

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

blister beetle Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematically colored, announcing their ...

s, and the

tarnished plant bug The tarnished plant bug (TPB), ''Lygus lineolaris'', is a species of plant-feeding insect in the family Miridae. It has piercing-sucking mouthparts and has become a serious pest on small fruits and vegetables in North America. It is considered a ...

. The plant is also susceptible to

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

Gallery

과꽃 가까이.JPG, In pink China Aster (Callistephus Chinensis).jpg, In lilac Callistephus chinensis 0.5 R.jpg, In yellow File:Acacia_red_(7774265346).jpg, Red File:Acacia_purple_(7774266528).jpg, Purple flowers File:Aster astrum.jpg, Mix colours File:Callistephus chinensis (in a flowerbed) 02.jpg, In a garden File:Flowers - Uncategorised Garden plants 86.JPG, Caterpillar feeding on white flower File:Кировский район Донецка 120.jpg, Natural habitat File:Callistephus chinensis 0.0 R.jpg, Garden setting File:Callistephus chinensis 1.1 R.jpg, Round, fluffy flower Aster de Chine (Pierre-Joseph Redouté 1833).jpg, ''Aster de Chine'' (1833) by

Pierre-Joseph Redouté Pierre-Joseph Redouté (, 10 July 1759 – 19 June 1840), was a painter and botanist from Belgium, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at the Château de Malmaison, many of which were published as large, coloured ...

The Soviet Union 1970 CPA 3946 stamp (China asters).jpg, On a 1970

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

postage stamp

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q12358274, from2=Q312441 Astereae Monotypic Asteraceae genera Flora of China