Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii
Michaelmas Daisy
Asteraceae
Roadsides, gardens, near habitation, gullies, and moist to swampy sites. Widespread but not common.
Introduced perennial herb to 1.4 m high, rhizomatous. Stems hairless or in narrow lines. Leaves alternating up the stems, 2–15 cm long, 3–20 mm wide; surfaces hairless or slightly hairy or bristly in lines, margins entire to slightly toothed, rough, bases narrowly stem-clasping. Basal parts of the plants soon leafless. Flower heads with few to many pale to deep mauve, purple, or bluish 'petals' each 6–15 mm long and a yellow to orange centre, 5–7 mm in diameter, with few to many florets. Flower heads behind the ‘petals’ hemispherical to bell-shaped. Flower heads in narrow leafy branched clusters. Flowers summer-autumn.
Aster novi-belgii in PlantNET.
PlantNET description (as Aster novi-belgii): http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Aster~novi-belgii (accessed 3 May 2021)
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