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• All other flowering non-woody plants
• Daisies, goldenrods, and other aster family plants
• Doellingeria umbellata

Doellingeria umbellata — tall white-aster

Facts

Tall white-aster blooms relatively early by aster standards, with large, usually flat-topped clusters of flower heads. Its dramatic floral display makes it popular as a native garden ornamental.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, meadows and fields, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract color

  the bracts are not colored or tinged with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  there are three or more cycles of bracts

  Bract keels

  the bracts do not have keels

  Bract margins

  there are fine hairs along the bract margins

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces, with hairs having glands (a swelling at the tip of the hair)

  Bract outer side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are of a different shape than the given options

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  • the bracts appear thin, flexible and nearly translucent
  • the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip color

  the tips are the same color as the center of the bract

  Bract tip extension appearance

  NA

  Bract tip extension edge

  there are no projections from the bract tips

  Bract tip orientation

  the bracts are pressed against the plant, or spreading out at the tips

  Bract tip shape

  • the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)
  • the tips of the bracts are obtuse (have a blunt point)

  Bract width

  Up to 1

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  • white
  • yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower number

  • 1-5
  • 11-20
  • 21-50
  • 6-10

  Disk flower proportions

  46-75%

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is abruptly widened at some point below the lobes

  Flower head number

  • each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it
  • each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head position

  some or all the flower heads are grouped in clusters of two or more

  Flower head profile

  the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower head shape

  • the flower head is hemispherical (like the bottom half of a sphere)
  • the flower head is shaped like a cone with the point up
  • the sides of the flower head are roughly parallel, like a cylinder

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Height of flower head base

  3–5 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Inflorescence stem

  • hairs are present on the stem of the inflorescence
  • the stem of the inflorescence is not hairy

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  16–40

  Ovary beak

  there is no beak on the ovary

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary hair type

  the ovary has hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has hairs on it

  Ovary lines or ribs

  • there are four to six lines or ribs visible on the ovary
  • there are three lines or ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is another shape

  Ovary wing number

  NA

  Peduncle hair type

  the hairs on the peduncles are simple (not branched), don’t have glands, and are not woolly

  Peduncle hairs

  the peduncles are hairy

  Peduncle length

  1–10 mm

  Peduncle orientation

  the flower heads are held upright, or slightly angled outwards

  Ray flower color

  white

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both

  Ray flowers

  • 1-5
  • 11-15
  • 16-25
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  4–12.3 mm

  Reproductive system

  some of the flowers on the plant have only carpels or stamens, while others have both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  NA

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Style branches

  the style branch is narrow at the tip, or the style branches are narrow at the tips

  Swelling at base of flower head

  the peduncles are not swollen, or only slightly

  Width of flower head base

  4–6 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  11 or more

  Ovary beak length

  0 mm

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1.4–3.2 mm

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs are hooked or barbed

  Seed hair tuft length

  0.2–6.2 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  at least some of the pappus hairs are broader at their tips than their bases

  Seed hairs uniform

  there are two distinct lengths of pappus hairs

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have no glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Ovary glands

  there are no visible glands on the ovary

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment length (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade flatness

  the edges of the leaf are curled upward

  Leaf blade length

  35–150 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  5–35 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf stalk length

  At least 0 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf tufts in axils

  there are no clusters of smaller leaves

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Teeth per side of leaf blade

  0

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • edges of wetlands
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem bloom

  there is no powdery or waxy film on the stem

  Stem internode hair length

  At least 0 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  • the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae