by Janet Wingate 



SOLIDAGO PTARMICOIDES 

 PRAIRIE ASTER 



Prairie Aster has stems that are 1-7 dm high and clustered on a woody-thickened, branched rootcrown. Leaves are 

 alternate, glabrous, firm, and 3 -veined. The narrowly lance-shaped leaves near the base of the plant have entire margins 

 and are petiolate and up to 20 cm long, while those on the upper stem are shorter, strap-shaped, and lacking petioles. 

 The 3-60 flower heads are borne in an open, flat-topped inflorescence. The glabrous, overlapping involucral bracts of 

 each head are 5-7 mm long, each with a greenish apex and a prominent, thickened midrib. The 10-25 rayflowers are 

 white and 5-9 mm long, and the numerous disk flowers are white. The achene is glabrous and has a pappus of bristles 

 that are thickened toward the top. 



Flowering August-September. 



This species differs from other SOLIDAGO in having white flowers, resembling an ASTER. It can be distinguished 

 from the latter by its flat-topped inflorescence, its thickened, involucral bracts that are often blunt at the tips, the 

 thickened pappus bristles, and 3-veined leaves. 



