Aster canescens
 
Canescent Aster

Lower Branch Close-Up

Castle Butte, 12 Miles South of Bengough on Highway # 34
30-July-2014

Note that the modern name for this species is Machaeranthera canescens.  Sometime in the future I will update the asters on my website to conform to the modern nomenclature.

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Canescens: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species. 
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plants of dry habitats

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plants biennial, with a taproot; NOT [plants perennial, with rootstocks or root crowns and fibrous roots]

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leaves entire or toothed; NOT [leaves pinnately dissected]

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involucral bracts glandular sticky

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ray florets present; NOT [ray florets lacking or inconspicuous]

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ray florets blue to bluish purple

 

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Aster: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus. 
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juice watery; NOT [juice milky]

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leaves appearing before the flowers; NOT [leaves appearing after the flowers]

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plants usually with leafy stems; NOT [plants low, stemless, tufted]

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basal leaves NOT cordate or sagittate

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NOT [basal leaves mostly 1-6 cm long, linear to oblanceolate or spatulate, forming a dense rosette; plants with a well-developed taproot; and either densely caespitose, seldom more than 5 cm tall, the heads sessile among the leaves, or with stout, simple stems, 5-15 (25) cm tall, heads solitary, involucres 2-4 cm wide, bracts ciliate to pectinate or fimbriate, rays blue and achenes densely pubescent, obovate to triangular]

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leaves alternate or basal; NOT [leaves opposite]

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leaves not extending beyond flowers; NOT [leaves usually extending beyond the flowers]

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involucral bracts either subequal and the outer leafy or more commonly evidently imbricate, with chartaceous base and evident green tip, sometimes chartaceous throughout; NOT [involucral bracts subequal or more or less imbricate, often green in part, but neither definitely leafy nor with chartaceous base and herbaceous green tip] (FOA)

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bracts in several series; NOT [bracts in 1 or 2 series] (BF)

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flower heads with both tubular florets and ray florets (radiate heads)

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ligulate florets pistillate or neuter; NOT [ligulate flowers perfect]

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ray florets conspicuous

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ray florets 10-50; NOT [ray florets 50 or more] (BF)

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rays white, to pink, purple or blue; NOT [rays yellow or orange]

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stamens united to form a tube around the pistil

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styles-branches ordinarily more than 0.5 mm long; NOT [style-branches 0.5 mm long or less, or obsolete]

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style-branches lanceolate or narrower; NOT [style-branches lanceolate or broader]

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style-branches acute or acuminate; NOT [style-branches acute to obtuse]

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pappus composed of numerous hairs; NOT [pappus absent or composed of a few hairs] (BF)

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pappus of capillary bristles, at least in part; NOT [pappus of 1 or 2 short awns, a mere crown or none] (FOA)