Scientific name: Aster tripolium L.
Common name: Sea Aster

Description
Habit: Perennial, 20-100cm high.
Stems: Erect, hairless.
Leaves: Alternate, oblong lanceolate, upper leaves linear oblong; untoothed and fleshy with no lateral veins or with 3 obscure ones.
Flowers: Yellow and purple-white, flower heads 12-20 mm across, in a compact corymb; involucral bracts few, oblong; radiating florets purple or white, usually in 1-2 rows, sometimes absent; inner florets tubular, yellow.
Fruits: An achene, pappus of unbranched hairs.

Habitat: Salt marshes or less commonly on maritime rocks or cliffs.
Distribution: Frequent but in some areas local.

Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No

Family Asteraceae
Genus Aster
Species Aster tripolium

Scientific synonyms and common names

Sea Aster [English]

Stace, C. (1997) New Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, The Bath Press, UK.

Tutin, T. G., V. H. Heywood, N. A. Burges, D. M. Moore, D. H. Valentine, S. M. Walters and D. A. Webb (eds.) (1976) Flora Europaea, Volume 4. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Webb, D. A. and M. J. P. Scannell (1983) Flora of Connemara and the Burren. Royal Dublin Society and Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Webb, D. A., J. Parnell and D. Doogue (1996) An Irish Flora. Dundalgan Press, Dundalk.

You can continue searching for Aster tripolium on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

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