Aster amellus

Aster amellus, the European Michaelmas daisy,[1] is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Aster of the family Asteraceae.

Aster amellus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Tribe:
Astereae
Genus:
Aster
Species:
A. amellus
Binomial name
Aster amellus
Synonyms

Several, including:

  • Aster elegans Nees

Etymology

The specific name amellus is first used in the Georgics (Book IV, 271-280), a poem of the Latin poet Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC - 19 BC), but the etymology is obscure and uncertain.

Description

Aster amellus reaches on average a height of 20–50 centimetres (7.9–19.7 in). The stem is erect and branched, the leaves are dark green. The basal leaves are obovate and petiolated, the cauline ones are alternate and sessile, increasingly narrower and lanceolate. The flowers are lilac. The flowering period extends from July through October. The hermaphroditic flowers are either self-fertilized (autogamy) or pollinated by insects (entomogamy). The seeds are an achene that ripens in October.

Distribution

This plant is present on the European mountains from the Pyrenees and the Alps to the Carpathians. Outside Europe it is located in western Asia (Turkey), the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia (Kazakhstan).

Cultivation

Asters are valued in the garden for late summer and autumn colour in shades of blue, pink and white. This species has several cultivars of ornamental garden use. The following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

  • 'Framfieldii'[2]
  • 'Jacqueline Genebrier'[3]
  • 'King George'[4]
  • 'Veilchenkönigin'[5]
  • Aster × frikartii 'Mönch'[6]

Habitat

The typical habitat is rocky limy areas, the edges of the bushes and copses, but also the sub-alpine meadows, marshy places and lake sides. It prefers calcareous and slightly dry substrate with basic pH and low nutritional value, at an altitude of 0–800 metres (0–2,625 ft) above sea level.

In Literature

The Michaelmas Daisy is one of Letitia Elizabeth Landon's earliest poems (1820).

Synonyms
  • Amellus officinalis Gaterau
  • Amellus vulgaris Opiz
  • Aster acmellus Pall.
  • Aster albus Willd. ex Spreng.
  • Aster amelloides Hoffm.
  • Aster amellus subsp. bessarabicus (Bernh. ex Rchb.) Soó
  • Aster atticus Pall.
  • Aster bessarabicus Bernh. ex Rchb.
  • Aster collinus Salisb.
  • Aster elegans Nees
  • Aster noeanus Sch.Bip. ex Nyman
  • Aster ottomanum Velen.
  • Aster pseudoamellus DC.
  • Aster purpureus Gueldenst. ex Ledeb.
  • Aster scepusiensis Kit. ex Kanitz
  • Aster tinctorius Wallr.
  • Aster trinervius Gilib.
  • Diplopappus asperrimus (Nees) DC.
  • Diplopappus laxus Benth.
  • Galatella asperrima Nees
  • Kalimares amellus (L.) Raf. ex B.D.Jacks. (1894)
  • Illustration from "Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz", 1885
  • Flowers
  • Fruits

References
  1. "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. "RHS Plant Selector Aster amellus 'Framfieldii' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  3. "RHS Plant Selector Aster amellus 'Jacqueline Genebrier' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  4. "RHS Plant Selector Aster amellus 'King George' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  5. "RHS Plant Selector Aster amellus 'Veilchenkönigin' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  6. "Aster × frikartii 'Mönch'". RHS. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  • Plants for a Future
  • Pignatti S. - Flora d'Italia (3 vol.) - Edagricole – 1982, Vol. III, pag. 20
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