Symphyotrichum dumosum (L.) G.L. Nesom

White Bushy Aster; Rice Button Aster; Long Stalk Aster

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

White Bushy Aster is a native herbaceous perennial in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. White Bushy Aster grows in a wide variety of habitats, but it most common in wet areas. White Bushy Aster occurs along rivers and streams, around ponds and lakes, in bogs and swamps, in wet roadside ditches, and in low woods. It is a perennial with long creeping rhizomes and can form large clones. The rhizomes may be thick and woody. Stems are 1-5 from each crown. The stems are 1-3 feet in height, much branched, and easily broken. The stems are pubescent or glabrate. Basal and lower stem leaves are usually withered by flowering. Basal and lower stem leaves are winged-petiolate, spatulate to oblanceolate in outline, with entire or serrate margins. Lower stem leaves are distinctly downward pointing. The upper leaves are sessile, much reduced in size, linear to linear-lanceolate in outline, with entire or serrate margins. All leaves are glabrous or glabrate. Leaves often have axillary clusters of small leaves. Flowers are produced in heads. The heads are arranged in open, stiff panicles. Peduncles are slender and have 5-16 or more small leaf-like bracts. Each head has 15-33 white or pale blue ray flowers and 15-33 yellow disc flowers. The disc flowers turn reddish as they age. The fruit is an achene. White Bushy Aster is available from some wildflower nurseries. It prefers a moist loamy or clay soil in full to partial sun. White Bushy Aster is a late blooming species, often flowering into December. It is an important late season nectar and pollen source for butterflies and bees.--A. Diamond

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Native FAC (NWPL)

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