Symphyotrichum puniceum (Purple-Stemmed Aster) - photos and description
Leaves clasp the stem.
General: Tall, stout-stemmed perennials, branching above. Stems purple in colour and with long, stiff hairs.
Flowers: Flowers from upper leaf axils in a loose inflorescence, light violet in colour, flower head measured to 4.5 cm in diameter. Involucral bracts narrow, reflexed, reduced upwards, scarcely overlap with one another.
Leaves: Leaves cauline, alternate, auriculate and clasping, narrowly lanceolate, having small teeth. Leaf highlighted in photo above was measured at 8 cm long and 17 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 200 cm, we measured plants to 107 cm tall.
Habitat: Swamps and marshlands.
Abundance: Common, ranked as an S5 by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
Synonym: Listed in many of the field guides we use as Aster puniceus.
How to identify this species: Auriculate, clasping stem leaves, and a rough, hairy stem (Budd's Flora).
When and where photographed: Took the above photos June 28th, forest marsh, Moose Mountain Provincial Park, about 200 km southeast of Regina, SK, and, August 3rd, swampy coniferous woods, Meadow Lake Provincial Park, about 550 km northwest of our home in Regina, SK.