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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Prairie Golden Aster (Heterotheca camporum)


























Prairie Golden Aster (Heterotheca camporum) is a robust taprooted, coarsely but often thinly hairy perennial herb, from 16 to 40" tall with slender creeping rhizomes as well as a taproot. 

Leaves are alternate, more or less lance-shaped, to 3" long and 0.8" wide, mostly entire, but sometimes with a few small sharp teeth. The disks are from 0.5 to 1.0" wide and yellow. The 21 to 34 rays are yellow about 0.4" long. 

Bloom Time: August - September. 

Where Found: Fields and roadsides. A praire species of the Midwest, recently introduced into the southeastern U.S., Middle and East TN. 

Notes: Golden Asters have been placed in three genera: Chrysopsis, Heterotheca, and Pityopsis. They have been reclassified several times, and even for the trained botanist, it is a taxonomically difficult group. Golden Asters may be identified in various manuals by a number of different names. 
 Photos taken: Lock 5 in Wilson County.

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