Aster amellus

Aster amellus
Aster amellus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Astereae
Genus: Aster
Species: A. amellus
Binomial name
Aster amellus

Aster amellus or the European Michaelmas Daisy is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Aster, belonging to the Asteraceae family.

Contents

Etymology

The genus name (Aster) comes from the Greek and means "star-shaped flower." The specific name (amellus) is first used in the Georgics (Book IV, 271-280), a poem of the Latin poet Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC - 19 BC), but the etymology is obscure and uncertain.

Description

Aster amellus reaches on average a height of 20–50 centimetres (7.9–20 in). The stem is erect and branched, the leaves are dark green. The basal leaves are obovate and petiolated, the cauline ones are alternate and sessile, increasingly narrower and lanceolate. The flowers are lilac. The flowering period extends from July through October. The hermaphroditic flowers are either self-fertilized (autogamy) or pollinated by insects (entomogamy). The seeds is an achene that ripen in October.

Distribution

This plant is present on the European mountains from the Pyrenees and the Alps to the Carpathians. Outside Europe is located in western Asia (Turkey), the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia (Kazakhstan).

Habitat

The typical habitat is the rocky limy areas, the edges of the bushes and copses, but also the sub-alpine meadows, marshy places and lake sides. It prefers calcareous and slightly dry substrate with basic pH and low nutritional value, at an altitude of 0–800 metres (0–2,600 ft) above sea level.

Synonyms

  • Amellus officinalis Gaterau
  • Amellus vulgaris Opiz
  • Aster acmellus Pall.
  • Aster albus Willd. ex Spreng.
  • Aster amelloides Hoffm.
  • Aster amellus subsp. bessarabicus (Bernh. ex Rchb.) Soó
  • Aster atticus Pall.
  • Aster bessarabicus Bernh. ex Rchb.
  • Aster collinus Salisb.
  • Aster elegans Nees
  • Aster noeanus Sch.Bip. ex Nyman
  • Aster ottomanum Velen.
  • Aster pseudoamellus DC.
  • Aster purpureus Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.
  • Aster scepusiensis Kit. ex Kanitz
  • Aster tinctorius Wallr.
  • Aster trinervius Gilib.
  • Diplopappus asperrimus (Nees) DC.
  • Diplopappus laxus Benth.
  • Galatella asperrima Nees
  • Kalimares amellus (L.) Raf. ex B.D.Jacks. (1894)


Gallery

  • Illustration of Aster amellus from "Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz", 1885

  • Plants of Aster amellus

  • Flowers of Aster amellus

  • Cauline sessile leaves of Aster amellus

  • Fruits of Aster amellus

References

  • Plants for a Future
  • Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia (3 vol.) - Edagricole – 1982, Vol. III, pag. 20

External links

Stub icon This Astereae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.