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Rayless alkali aster

Symphyotrichum ciliatum

Also called Rayless Annual Aster, Rayless Aster, Alkali American Aster, Ciliate Aster, Western Annual Aster, Alkali Aster

Rayless alkali aster
Photo: Andrey Zharkikh from Salt Lake City, USA, CC BY 2.0

Rayless alkali aster is a small annual wildflower in the daisy family, native to North America and eastern Eurasia, growing up to about 70 cm tall. Its flower heads have only disk florets and no petals (rays), and it is typically found in moist, alkaline or saline soils.

Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Annual
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep soil moist during germination and early growth, then water when the top layer dries out.
Soil
Tolerates alkaline and saline soils; well-drained loam or sandy loam works well.
Temperature
Hardy in cool temperate climates; tolerates frost, grows best in mild summers.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Siberia to C. Asia and China, Subarctic America to N. & WC. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Symphyotrichum ciliatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to North America and eastern Eurasia. Commonly known as rayless annual aster and rayless alkali aster, it is an annual, herbaceous plant that may reach over 70 centimeters (2 feet 4 inches) in height. Each flower head has many whitish then pink disk florets and no ray florets ("rayless").

Other Symphyotrichum plants

Scaleleaf aster · Manyray aster · Anticosti Island aster · Western aster · Symphyotrichum bimater · Northern bog aster · Symphyotrichum bullatum · Symphyotrichum burgessii · Western meadow aster · Carneros Aster · Savanna aster · Symphyotrichum chihuahuense

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Symphyotrichum ciliatum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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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