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Symphyotrichum ciliolatum (Lindl.) Á. Löve & D. Löve

Common Name: NORTHERN HEART-LEAVED ASTER
Coefficient of Conservatism: 4
Coefficient of Wetness: 5
Wetness Index: UPL
Physiognomy: Nt P-Forb

Aster ciliolatus of Michigan Flora.

Dry to moist deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forests, especially in clearings and along borders including adjacent roads, trails, and fields; thickets, logged and burned areas, dune ridges, rocky ground. The range of this northern species does not (with barely an exception) appear quite to overlap that of the southern S. cordifolium in Michigan.

The long blue to purple rays and large heads will rather easily separate this species from S. urophyllum even if the aspect of the inflorescence is not clear. The heads are 16–28 mm broad when fresh and fully expanded, while in S. cordifolium and S. urophyllum they run less than 18 mm broad.

A few plants clearly intermediate with other species are presumably hybrids, e.g., S. ciliolatum × S. lanceolatum from Beaver Island and Cheboygan, Chippewa, and Mackinac Cos., and S. ciliolatum × S. laeve from Schoolcraft Co.

A. A. Reznicek

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Counties
Alcona
Alger
Alpena
Arenac
Baraga
Bay
Charlevoix
Cheboygan
Chippewa
Crawford
Delta
Dickinson
Emmet
Gogebic
Houghton
Iron
Kalkaska
Keweenaw
Leelanau
Mackinac
Manistee
Marquette
Missaukee
Ogemaw
Ontonagon
Presque Isle
Schoolcraft

Citation:
MICHIGAN FLORA ONLINE. A. A. Reznicek, E. G. Voss, & B. S. Walters. February 2011. University of Michigan. Web. February, 20, 2025
https://lsa-miflora-p.lsait.lsa.umich.edu/#/record/478