''Eurybia kingii'' is a North American species of flowering plants 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 w ...
, called the King's serpentweed or King's aster. It has been found only in the State of
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
in the western United States.
''Eurybia kingii'' is a small perennial herb rarely more than 12 centimeters (2.8 inches) tall from a woody underground
caudex
A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a 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, "caudex" is m ...
. The plant produces flower heads in groups of 1-5 heads. Each head contains 13-27 white or lavender ray florets surrounding 29–47 yellow disc florets.
Taxonomy
''Eurybia kingii'' was scientifically described and named in 1871 with the name ''Aster kingii'' by
Daniel Cady Eaton
Daniel Cady Eaton (September 12, 1834 – June 29, 1895) was an American botanist and author. After studies at the Rensselaer Institute in Troy and Russell's military school in New Haven,"Daniel Cady Eaton", ''American Journal of Science'', A ...
. Due to the taxonomic complexity a later reclassification to ''Tonestus kingii'' was argued for by the
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 ...
specialist
Guy L. Nesom
Guy L. Nesom (born August 2, 1945)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American writer and botanist.
Nesom received his Ph.D. in systematic botany from the University of North Carolina in 19 ...
in a 1991 paper. This found wide acceptance and continues to be name used for the species by the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners an ...
PLANTS database (PLANTS) as of 2023. In 2004 Luc Brouillet published a paper arguing for its reclassification as ''Herrickia kingii'' along with a general reorganization of species into a restored genus, '' Herrickia''. Returning to the subject in 2009, Guy L. Nesom proposed its inclusion in '' Eurybia''. As of 2023
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 by ...
(POWO) and
World Flora Online
World Flora Online is an Internet-based compendium of the world's plant species.
Description
The World Flora Online (WFO) is an open-access database, launched In October 2012 as a follow-up project to The Plant List, with the aim of publishing an ...
(WFO) both record it as ''Eurybia kingii''.
Names
''Eurybia kingii'' is known by two common names. The name "King’s aster" is a variation on the original botanical Latin name for the species. It is also known as "King's serpentweed" because of its previous placement in ''
Tonestus
''Tonestus'', common name serpentweed, is a genus of North American flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.
Range
''Eurybia kingii'' is limited to just seven counties in Utah in the western half of the state, Box Elder, Cache, Webber, Salt Lake, Utah, Juab, and Millard. ''Eurybia kingii'' was evaluated by
NatureServe
NatureServe, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Arlington County, Virginia, US, that provides proprietary wildlife conservation-related data, tools, and services to private and government clients, partner organizations, and the public. Nat ...
as " Vulnerable" (G3) in 1999, with the same rank at the state level because it
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 elsew ...