Home Asteraceae Eurybia

Eurybia macrophylla (L.) Cass.

Common Name: LARGE-LEAVED ASTER, BIG-LEAVED ASTER
Coefficient of Conservatism: 4
Coefficient of Wetness: 5
Wetness Index: UPL
Physiognomy: Nt P-Forb

Aster macrophyllus of Michigan Flora.

In forests of all kinds: beech-maple, hemlock-northern hardwoods, drier sites (with oak, hickory, aspen, jack pine, or mixed conifer-hardwoods), less often in swamps and river banks; common on forested dunes, also in northern rocky forests with spruce and fir. Often abundant after disturbance such as road construction, logging, or fire; spreading to roadsides, railroad embankments, pine plantations.

Eurybia macrophylla is widespread and very variable in size, pubescence, and glandularity. Very rarely a specimen is only sparsely glandular, but even in these individuals, glands can be found along the midveins of the inflorescence bracts. These sparsely gladualr individuals can be distinguished easily from E. furcata by the strongly cordate bases of the lower (or even middle) leaf blades, and the middle and upper leaves much reduced in size. In E. furcata, the base is at most truncate and the leaves are well developed at the upper and middle nodes. Such sparsely gladular individuals of E. macrophylla are more difficut to distinguish from E. schreberi. In E. schreberi glands appear to be most consistently absent from the undersides of the inflorescence bracts and the rays are apparently consistently white. White-rayed plants of E. macropyhylla do rarely occur, but The rays are usually pinkish to blue, though fading to near white with age.

Vegetative shoots with large heart-shaped leaves are generally abundant in forests, and noticeable because of their large size. In comparison, flowering stems are rather sparse in most years, and favor borders, trails, and openings.

A. A. Reznicek

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Counties
Alcona
Alger
Allegan
Alpena
Antrim
Arenac
Baraga
Barry
Bay
Benzie
Berrien
Calhoun
Cass
Charlevoix
Cheboygan
Chippewa
Clare
Clinton
Crawford
Delta
Dickinson
Emmet
Gladwin
Gogebic
Grand Traverse
Gratiot
Hillsdale
Houghton
Huron
Ingham
Ionia
Iosco
Iron
Isabella
Jackson
Kalamazoo
Kalkaska
Kent
Keweenaw
Lake
Lapeer
Leelanau
Lenawee
Livingston
Mackinac
Macomb
Manistee
Marquette
Mason
Mecosta
Menominee
Midland
Missaukee
Montcalm
Montmorency
Muskegon
Newaygo
Oakland
Oceana
Ogemaw
Ontonagon
Osceola
Oscoda
Ottawa
Presque Isle
Roscommon
Saginaw
Schoolcraft
Shiawassee
St. Clair
St. Joseph
Tuscola
Unknown
Van Buren
Washtenaw
Wayne

Citation:
MICHIGAN FLORA ONLINE. A. A. Reznicek, E. G. Voss, & B. S. Walters. February 2011. University of Michigan. Web. March, 17, 2025
https://lsa-miflora-p.lsait.lsa.umich.edu/#/record/326