| |
|
|
|
|
Member Pages |
Tatarian aster (sometimes misspelled as tartarian aster) is a large, rangy aster that gets 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m) tall and forms colonies from stout underground rhizomes. This big, rather weedy looking aster spends much of the year as a basal rosette of large paddle shaped sandpapery leaves that grow up to 24 in (61 cm) long and 6 in (15 cm) wide with long petioles and toothed margins. In this stage, tatarian aster looks like a mound of tobacco or Swiss chard leaves, 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) across. In early autumn it sends up flowering stalks with leaves that get progressively smaller and lose the marginal teeth and petioles. By mid to late autumn the flower stalks branch near the top and bear large and abundant flat-topped clusters of flowerheads which are lavender with yellow centers and about 1 in (2.5 cm) across. 'Jin-Dai' is a smaller, more compact selection, only 3-4 ft (0.9-1.2 m) tall, with light blue ray flowers.
Location
Culture
Usage This late blooming aster may be a challenge to place because it is so big and so coarse textured. It can look more like a roadside weed than a civilized flower. But Tatarian aster is still blooming at the time of the first frost, and the local butterflies surely appreciate that! Use Tatarian aster in back of the border or allow it to naturalize in a wildflower/butterfly garden. Extracts from the roots of tatarian aster are used by herbalists to treat cold symptoms, pulmonary complaints, and fluid retention in the lungs and bronchial passages.
Features Tatarian aster was named after Tatary, the vast region of Siberia and Mongolia that was inhabited by the Tatar tribes who invaded eastern Europe in the Middle Ages.
Steve Christman 10/17/00; updated 10/11/03
|
NEW at Floridata
Plant Profiles:
|
||||||||||||||||||
Get link
WARNING
