Canadanthus modestus (Lindl.) G.L. Nesom
great northern aster
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
great northern aster
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a creeping rhizome; stems erect, solitary, branched above, with spreading, long hairs and stalked glands, at least above, 0.3-1.0 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves smaller than the others, usually deciduous by flowering time; stem leaves lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, unstalked, more or less clasping, glabrous above, sparsely hairy beneath, margins smooth to few toothed.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, few to many in a branched, leafy, usually short inflorescence, bases glandular; involucres 7-11 mm tall; involucral bracts equal or subequal, linear to linear-lanceolate, with long-pointed tips, densely stalked-glandular, the outer leaflike, the inner often purplish; ray flowers 20-45, purple or violet, 8-15 mm long; disk flowers yellow.
Fruits:
Achenes strongly 5-ribbed, sparsely hairy; pappus whitish to yellowish.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Canadanthus modestus
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
944 | 0 | 2005 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
6 | 0 | 85 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
194 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
718 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(1), BWBS(8), CWH(26), ESSF(98), ICH(158), IDF(35), MH(3), MS(35), PP(3), SBPS(28), SBS(300), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic meadows, streambanks, shrub thickets and forests in the lowland and montane zones; common throughout most of BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to ON and S to MI, MN, MT, ID and OR.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Aster major (Hook.) Porter
Aster modestus Lindl.
Aster unalaschkensis var. major Hook.
Weberaster modestus (Lindl.) A. Löve & D. Löve