Question: Hi! I found this Symphyotrichum in a dry, open clearing in South Hamilton, MA (surrounded by low blueberry bushes and …
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Question
Hi! I found this Symphyotrichum in a dry, open clearing in South Hamilton, MA (surrounded by low blueberry bushes and tufts of bluestem). It doesn't clearly resemble any of our species to my eye. I eventually decided that it could be S. pilosum var. pringlei, the variety without long hairs on the stem, but the bracts are unconvincing. They don't look like the bracts of S. pilosum var. pilosum I've keyed out. I'd love to hear your opinion.
Answer
Dear chickenparmesan24, good afternoon. This does not look like Symphyotrichum pilosum to me. The copiously bracteate branches and broad, relatively short green tip on the involucral bracts reminds me of Symphyotrichum dumosum (bush American-aster). The bracteal leaves are a bit larger than I normally observe, but I'm not certain which other American-aster this could be with the morphology captured in your images. Best wishes.
