''Eurybia sibirica'', commonly known as the Siberian aster or arctic aster, is an herbaceous perennial native to north western

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 ...

and northern Eurasia. It is found largely in open areas of subarctic boreal forests, though it is also found in a wide variety of habitats in the region. It is similar in appearance to ''

Eurybia merita ''Eurybia merita'', commonly known as the subalpine aster or arctic aster (not to be confused with '' Eurybia sibirica'', which shares the latter common name), is an herbaceous perennial native to northwestern North America, primarily from the I ...

'', but their ranges overlap only near the border between the US and Canada, where ''E. sibirica'' is generally found at higher elevations. ''Eurybia sibirica'' is a perennial herb up to 60 cm (2 feet) tall, spreading by means of thin underground rhizomes. The plant produces flower heads either one at a time or in dense flat-topped arrays of 2–50 heads. Each head contains 12–50 white, purple, or pale violet ray florets surrounding 25–125 yellow disc florets. The involucral bracts are reddish-purple (anthocyanic).Hitchcock, C.L. and A. Cronquist. 1987. ''Flora of the Pacific Northwest, an Illustrated Manual''. University of Washington Press, Seattle and London.

Distribution and habitat

''Eurybia sibirica'' is present in much of the

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...

region of world, in northwestern North America and

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

and

Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographical terms and is coextensive with the Asian part of Russia, and consists of three Russian regions east of the Ural Mountains: ...

. It is common in northern Asia (

Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...

, Yakutia, Mongolia,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Chinese Province of Heilongjiang and other parts of North of

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 ...

). It is also found in European Russia and Scandinavia, as well as northern and western Canada ( Alberta, British Columbia, and all 3 Arctic provinces) and United States ( Alaska plus the mountains of Washington, Idaho, and Montana). It is found at heights ranging from sea level up to 2200 metres in sandy or gravely soils in disturbed or open areas of boreal forests. It is also present in wet meadows, in open areas of aspen and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

woods and along riparian thickets. In addition, it is common growing in sandy or gravelly stream flats, along stream banks and the shores of lakes, on bluffs, in sand dunes and other sandy places, and in both sub-alpine and mountain meadows. ;Subspecies *''Eurybia sibirica'' subsp. ''sibirica'' *''Eurybia sibirica'' subsp. ''subintegerrima'' (Trautv.) Greuter

References

External links

Alaskan Wildflowers
photos

photos * ttp://botany.cz/en/eurybia-sibirica/ Czech Botany, ''Eurybia sibirica'' (L.) G. L. Nesom – Siberian Aster, Arctic Asterin Czech with photos
Plantarium, ''Aster sibiricus'' L.
with photos

photos, captions in Swedish {{Taxonbar, from=Q717661 sibirica Flora of Northern America Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus