''Symphyotrichum oolentangiense'' (formerly ''Aster oolentangiensis'' and ''Aster azureus''), commonly known as skyblue aster and azure aster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern

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Description

The plants are tall with one to several

herbaceous 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 of t ...

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

s. The alternate and simple

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

have a rough texture. The composite flowers, produced between August and October, have blue to violet rays. Symphyotrichum_oolentangiense_leaf

Taxonomy

American botanist John Leonard Riddell originally described this species in a publication dated to April 1835 as ''Aster oolentangiensis'' after finding it in forests on the Olentangy River near Worthington, Ohio. Riddell originally misspelled the name of the river with two Os. The synonym ''Aster azureus'' has also been used, but this was not published until November 1835, so Riddell's

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

has priority. Along with many other species, ''Symphyotrichum oolentangiense'' was formerly included in the genus ''Aster''. However, this broad circumscription of ''Aster'' is polyphyletic, and the North American asters are now classified in ''

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

'' and several other genera.

Distribution and habitat

''Symphyotrichum oolentangiense'' is found in prairies, open woodlands, savannahs and other open habitats. It occurs widely in the Midwestern United States and in eastern prairies, from Texas to Minnesota. It also extends into Mexico in

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

and to Ontario in Canada. The species is endangered in

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Ecology

The flowers attract a wide variety of insect species, including

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

, bee flies,

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

beetles Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

, and others. A wide variety of herbivorous insects also consume the vegetation. The seeds are dispersed by wind. The species is typical of higher quality natural areas, especially those with disturbances such as wildfire.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q15555426, from2=Q38782815, from3=Q85200829 oolentangiense Flora of Canada Flora of the United States Flora of Coahuila Plants described in 1835 Taxa named by John Leonard Riddell