Elliott's Aster

Elliott's Aster, Aster elliottii, (or now Symphyotrichum elliottii) is still blooming, though not as robustly as a month ago. For me it usually flowers in late fall through early winter, but if spring were not so dry here it probably would keep going for one more season. It is one of my favorite native plants, even if I constantly have to contend with its expansionist tendencies.

I was playing around with the concept of "negative painting" in this loose sketch.

 Though it seeds profusely, in moist or wet soil it spreads enthusiastically by rhizomes to form dense colonies. An individual plant starts out from a basal rosette, which by and large disappears as the plant matures. Plants reach 2and one half to 5 feet tall. Mine never get more than 3 feet tall, probably because they don't get any extra water. (They grow in a section of the yard that stays relatively damp most of the year). Spring is windy and hot here, and my asters go fairly dormant until the rains return in summer, when I have to start pulling them out to contain their spread.

Bottom Part of Plant - Basal Rosette Has Disappeared

 Heads are produced at the ends of stalks and branches. They consist of both ray and disk flowers. The ray flowers are a purplish-lavender. The ray flowers in our plants are quite pale, but can be considerably darker in others.

 Leaves are alternate and lance-shaped, with the widest part near the tip (oblanceolate). They become progressively smaller as you move up the stem. The leaf margins have teeth.


I allow Elliott's aster a little corner of the front yard. Perhaps I should let it take over, but I don't find it that attractive out of bloom - just a thicket of green. However, a colony of Elliott's aster in bloom puts on a real show.

Colony of Elliott's Aster in Bloom- Photo by Jeanette Lee Atkinson

The plant  is named for Stephen Elliott (1771-1830), a fascinating and remarkably accomplished individual. He was born and died in South Carolina, and was educated at Yale. He enjoyed a productive career in the South Carolina legislature, where he was instrumental in passing laws establishing a public school system and a state bank. He was a major influence in the creation of the Medical College of South Carolina, where he lecturerd on natural history and botany.

Like many educated people of his day, he was an avid natural scientist, and corresponded with leading colleagues in both the U.S. and Europe. His  A Study of the Botany of South-Carolina and Georgia, which appeared  between 1816 and 1824, is considered one of the most important botanical works in the United States. (This biographical information is taken from an article by George Rogers in the South Carolina Encyclopedia, www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/elliott-stephen).

Elliott was so respected that the genus Elliottia was named after him. In Florida alone no fewer than 12 plants have his name as their species epithet. One of the most beautiful, Elliott's love grass, Eragrostis elliottii is shown below.

Elliott's Lovegrass - Jeanette Lee Atkinson

Elliott's aster occurs in moist conditions throughout the southeast and west through Louisiana. It is very popular with pollinators, and it never has suffered from insects or diseases in our yard. It lasts a reasonable time as a cut flower.

Elliott's Aster, Top Part of Plant, Graphite Pencil