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MARSH ASTER

NOMENCLATURE

Other Names:

Scientific Name: Aster simplex Willd.

 Plant Family: Compositae

GENERAL INFORMATION

Botanical Description: herbaceous

 Stems: reach 2 - 5 feet, branching toward top, erect

 Leaves: lower leaves larger than upper leaves, all long and narrow (length is 5 - 10 times width), margins sometimes serrated

 Roots:

Flowers: composite heads often 0.75 inch wide with 20 - 40 ray flowers, color ranges from white to pale purplish bloom July - September

 Seeds: tiny, brownish, oblong with a tuft of hairs attached to one end

 Seedling: Seed leaves are tiny and smooth. Subsequent leaves are alternate, pale beneath, smooth except for tiny hairs along the edges. Leaves are egg-shaped to oval with few gentle teeth. Stem is tough, woody, rigid, and may be purplish.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

LIFE CYCLE

Reproduction: perennial

 Propagation: seed

 Dispersal: Often introduced as a contaminant during cranberry bed planting or renovation; also dispersed by wind.

DISTRIBUTION

State: Found throughout Wisconsin.

 National:

Origin:

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Prefers moist meadows, damp woods and marshes. Can invade established cranberry beds.

SCOUTING PROCEDURE/ET

While scouting a cranberry bed for disease and insect pests, identify weed populations as they arise. Note the specie(s) of weed present as well as the population level relative to field area. Example: 10% marsh aster, 20% boneset and joe-pye weed mix.

REFERENCES

Kummer, A. P. 1951. Weed Seedlings. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, U.S.A. p. 321.

 

Kummer, L. D., T. G. Dittl, and T. D. Planer. 1993. Wisconsin Cranberry Weeds. Wisconsin Cranberry Board, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. p. 9.

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