Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Asteraceae - Showy Aster (Eurybia spectabilis)

Showy Aster

(Eurybia spectabilis)

Color photograph: Homer D. House. 1918. Wildflowers of New York.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Symphyotrichum novae-belgii

Showy Aster has broader leaves than those of the New York Aster.

Symphyotrichum concolor

Eastern Silvery Aster has more crowded leaves, its leaves are silky, and the flowers are in a narrow raceme. In addition the basal leaves are not long stalked.

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Aromatic Aster is a smaller and more bushy species with a hairy, sometimes sticky, stem.

Symphyotrichum sericeum

The Western Silvery Aster is found in the western parts of the eastern United States, not along the eastern coast.

Showy Aster (Eurybia spectabilis)

Identification: Flowers large with blue-violet ray florets. The leaves are lanceolate (blade-shaped) with smooth margins. The basal leaves are borne on long stalks. Plant 6 to 24 inches in height.

Distribution: New York and southern New England in the east, southward to Alabama and South Carolina.

Habitat: A coastal species found on sandy soil, particularly in pine barrens.

Flowering period: August to October.

Showy Aster (Eurybia spectabilis)

Similar Species:

New York Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-belgii)

Eastern Silvery Aster (Symphyotrichum concolor)

Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)

Western Silvery Aster (Symphyotrichum sericeum)

Similar Species