Eucephalus engelmannii (D.C. Eaton) Greene
Engelmann's aster
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Engelmann's aster
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a fibrous-rooted rhizome or branched, woody stem-base; stems erect, branched above, glandular or sparsely long-hairy to glabrous, 0.5-1.5 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves reduced and scalelike below; stem leaves numerous and nearly alike, lanceolate or elliptic to egg-shaped, unstalked, entire or nearly so, closely reticulate, subglabrous or sometimes glandular or somewhat hairy below, 5-10 cm long, 1.5-3.5 cm wide.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, few to many in a rounded inflorescence; involucres 8-12 mm tall; involucral bracts graduated with a strong midvein, tending to be keeled, linear to lanceolate, with long-pointed tips or the inner abruptly sharp-pointed, papery below, greenish above, the inner purple-margined and marginally fringed with long hairs; ray flowers commonly 13, sometimes only 8, white, often pink with age, sometimes mauve, 15-25 mm long; disk flowers yellow.
Fruits:
Achenes appressed-hairy; pappus tawny with a few outer bristles.
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:
White
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Eucephalus engelmannii
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) |
1686 | 937 | 2240 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
38 | 0 | 100 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
178 | 10 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
164 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(14), ESSF(115), ICH(17), IDF(4), IMA(1), MS(12) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic meadows, avalanche tracks and open forests in the montane and lower subalpine zones; frequent in S BC in and E of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; E to SW AB and S to CO, NV and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Aster elegans var. engelmannii D.C. Eaton
Aster engelmannii (D.C. Eaton) A. Gray