Almutaster pauciflorus

Alkali marsh aster, alkali marsh aster, alkali marsh aster

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Alkali marsh aster is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills and northern Mojave Desert in Inyo County, inhabiting damp alkaline places at elevations of 200 to 700 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces white to pale purple ray flowers with yellow disk flowers in radiate heads 4 to 7 millimeters long. Growing with ascending to erect stems 30 to 120 centimeters tall, it has long rhizomes and distally branched stems that are glandular in the upper portions. Its leaves range from basal petioled leaves with widened sheathing bases to smaller cauline leaves that become bract-like in the inflorescence, generally linear and acute. The fruit is a fusiform structure with 7 to 10 fine ribs and a pappus of 25 to 45 bristles.

Habitat: Damp alkaline places

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: 200-700 m

Bioregions: s SNF, n DMoj (Inyo Co.)

California counties: Inyo, Kern, Riverside

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.