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Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Common
Name

Scientific
Name

Plant
Family

Garden
Location

Prime
Season
Smooth Blue Aster

Symphyotrichum laeve var. laeve (L.) A. Löve & D. Löve

[Old = Aster laevis]
Aster (Asteraceae)
Upland
Autumn
Other names and notes
The common name referring to the smooth stems and leaves. Leaves are thick, the stem usually with a whitish bloom. Flower heads are 3/4" to 1" wide with blue or violet rays. The central disk flowers are yellowish. The thick leaves are narrowly lance shaped, 5 times longer than wide and are stalkless or clasp the stem. They are sometimes toothed. Lower leaves will drop early. Leaves near the inflorescence are in the form of small (2mm) bracts with diamond shaped tips. There are several flower stems(inflorescences) per plant. Smooth Blue Aster grows from a rhizome and underground stem. Its habitat ranges from moist woods to open prairie and is a good plant for prairie restoration, however, when young, the plant is attractive to white-tailed deer, but on the good side, it attracts butterflies and other pollinators. In a prairie planting subject to periodic burns, the plant will survive well if the burn is early in the season.
Smooth Aster
Smooth Aster
Smooth Aster
 
Below: Note the diamond shape tips on the small leaves at the flower head (bracts).
Above and below: Note the stalkless, partially clasping leaves and the whitish bloom on the smooth stem.
Smooth Aster
Smooth Aster
Smooth Aster leaf
 
Smooth Aster
  
Notes: Eloise Butler first planted this species on Sept. 1, 1912 with plants obtained from Fort Snelling and again on the 26th with plants from Minnehaha Park. Martha Crone planted it often in her early years as curator, specifically, 1933, '34 and '37. This plant was listed on Martha Crone's 1951 inventory of plants in the Garden at that time. It is native to much of Minnesota except the Arrowhead and a few other scattered counties. In North American it grows in the eastern half of the continent.  
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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.  
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