North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Ionactis linariifolius

Ionactis linariifolius (L.) Greene

stiff-leaved aster, flaxleaf whitetop aster

Synonym(s): Aster linariifolius, Aster linariifolius var. victorinii

Ionactis linariifolius (Stiff-leaved Aster)

Image ID: 18008
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: IOLI2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ionactis linariifolius
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-09-17

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: IONAC
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Ionactis
GENUS AUTHORITY: Greene
GENUS COMMON: Aster
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of 5 species, herbs, of North America. Ionactis has usually been included in Aster, but differs in many characters and is more closely related to Heterotheca (Nesom & Leary 1992).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Nesom in FNA (2006b); Nesom & Leary (1992)=Z; Cronquist (1980)=SE.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: ASTERA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Asteraceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792
FAMILY COMMON: Aster Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect, clumped perennial of dry savannas, sandhills, flatwoods, prairie-like openings, glades, barrens, rock outcrops and road banks.
STEMS: Stems few to many forming dense tussocks, branched above in inflorescence, greenish-yellow to reddish, hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate (appearing whorled), sessile, linear, to 1 1/2 in. long, stiffly spreading, shiny dark green above, paler below, rough-hairy.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Daisy-like composite flowers (heads) 1-many on short branches near top of stem; heads about 1 in. wide, consisting of 7-20 violet ray florets encircling a center disk of yellow tubular florets. Several series of green and white bracts surround the cylindrical base of each head.
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 12-18 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: July-November

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
						x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Violet to white

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x						x		x	x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Disturbed, Outcrops and glades, Pine savannas, Sandhills, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern & central N. America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Stiff-leaf aster has an upright growth habit and is very showy in bloom. This southeastern native perennial blooms for many weeks, often until frost, with 1-inch daisy-like flowers in clusters. Stiff-leaf aster has durable foliage that looks attractive throughout the growing season. The Cherokee used the roots of this plant for a variety of medicinal uses, including treating pain and fevers.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 4
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 9
GERMINATION CODE: 1
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
292	HORT	2009-01-01	NCBG staff	View
1565	HORT	1996-11-12		View
2345	NPMD	2019-11-11	Touloupas	View
2365	NPMD	2019-11-21	Touloupas	View
2659	NPMD	2022-11-09	Marzolf	View
2714	NPMD	2022-11-29	Marzolf	View
2831	NPMD	2023-12-05	Meng	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
287	2011-0147	2011-06-16	292	View
2432	1986-2273			View
6469	1996-0091			View
7010	1998-0270			View
7854	2001-0214	2001-11-30		View
8841	2007-0116	2007-05-30		View
9022	1996-0208	0000-00-00	1565	View
9412	2021-0074	2021-06-29		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
678	287	21	NCBG staff	2011-04-08	View
4138	2432	27	NCBG staff	1986-12-31	View
9152	6469	146	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
9285	9022	115	NCBG staff	1999-05-01	View
9286	9022	142	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
9885	7010	8	NCBG staff	1996-03-05	View
11069	7854	51	Stern	1967-12-31	View
11070	7854	54	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
11071	7854	52	NCBG staff	2001-11-01	View
12725	9412	146	Wenck	2021-05-03	View
12995	0	198	MacIntyre	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: IOLI2
USDA Common Name: Flaxleaf Whitetop Aster
Native Status: L48 (N), CAN (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV), CAN (NB, QC)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ionactis linariifolia
COMMON NAME: Stiff-leaved Aster
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, K2, Pa, Va, WH3, Z; = I. linariifolius - Il, S, orthographic variant; = Aster linariifolius Linnaeus - C, G, RAB, SE, W, WV]
PHENOLOGY: Jul-Nov.
HABITAT: Dry savannas, sandhills, pine flatwoods, prairie-like openings, glades, and barrens, high elevation rock outcrops and glades, to at least 1450 m, dry roadbanks, woodland edges, rocky woodlands.
COMMENTS: ME and QC west to WI, south to ne. FL, Panhandle FL, and TX. There appears to be substantial variation in I. linariifolia, with montane (and northern) populations having considerably longer and broader leaves than Coastal Plain (and southern) populations; additional study is needed.
RANGE MAP: Ionactis linariifolia.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Asteraceae Dumortier 1822 or COMPOSITAE Giseke 1792 (Aster Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 1500-1700 genera and 20,000-25,000 species, shrubs, herbs, trees, and vines, cosmopolitan in distribution.
REFERENCE: Cronquist (1980)=SE throughout family treatment.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Ionactis Greene (Aster)
SUMMARY: A genus of 5 species, herbs, of North America. Ionactis has usually been included in Aster, but differs in many characters and is more closely related to Heterotheca (Nesom & Leary 1992).
REFERENCE: Nesom in FNA (2006b); Nesom & Leary (1992)=Z; Cronquist (1980)=SE.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Ionactis linariifolius in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Ionactis linariifolius in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Ionactis linariifolius in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Ionactis linariifolius in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Ionactis linariifolius in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Ionactis linariifolius

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 18008 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 18009 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 19554 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)