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Arctic aster

Eurybia sibirica

Also called Siberian Aster, Bering Wood Aster

Arctic aster
Photo: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5
Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Perennial
Native range
Subarctic to Japan
Climate
subalpine or subarctic

About

Eurybia sibirica, commonly known as the Siberian aster or arctic aster, is an herbaceous perennial native to north western North America and northern Eurasia. It is found largely in open areas of subarctic boreal forests, though it is also found in a wide variety of habitats in the region. It is similar in appearance to Eurybia merita, but their ranges overlap only near the border between the US and Canada, where E. sibirica is generally found at higher elevations.

Eurybia sibirica is a perennial herb up to 60 cm (2 feet) tall, spreading by means of thin underground rhizomes. The plant produces flower heads either one at a time or in dense flat-topped arrays of 2–50 heads. Each head contains 12–50 white, purple, or pale violet ray florets surrounding 25–125 yellow disc florets. The involucral bracts are reddish-purple (anthocyanic).

Where it grows

Eurybia sibirica is present in much of the subarctic region of world, in northwestern North America and Northern Europe and Northern Asia. It is common in northern Asia (Buryatia, Yakutia, Mongolia, Japan, Chinese Province of Heilongjiang and other parts of North of China). It is also found in European Russia and Scandinavia, as well as northern and western Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, and all 3 Arctic provinces) and United States (Alaska plus the mountains of Washington, Idaho, and Montana). It is found at heights ranging from sea level up to 2200 metres in sandy or gravely soils in disturbed or open areas of boreal forests. It is also present in wet meadows, in open areas of aspen and spruce woods and along riparian thickets. In addition, it is common growing in sandy or gravelly stream flats, along stream banks and the shores of lakes, on bluffs, in sand dunes and other sandy places, and in both sub-alpine and mountain meadows.

Other Eurybia plants

Alexander's rock aster · Mountain aster · Slender aster · Western showy aster · White wood aster · Thistleleaf aster · Forked aster · Southern prairie aster · Thickstem aster · Jones' aster · King's Serpentweed · Bigleaf aster

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eurybia sibirica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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