Single Record
Participant Info
- Species
- Aster alpinus subsp. vierhapperi
- Family
- Asteraceae
- CommonName
- alpine aster
- Presence
- YES
- Status
- native
- EarliestDate
- 1968
- LatestDate
- 1968
- Ecosystem
- tundra
- Geobotanical
- SSanjuans
- Counties
- Conejos, Mineral
- Passes
- Spring Creek
- WildlifePreserves
- Other Localities
- PhotoRecords
- Comments
- NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Of alpine aster, the one voucher collection was made by B. E. Willard in 1968, a plant he found in Mineral Co above Creede: "Upper Rat Creek through Spring Creek Divide." Clearly a glacial relict, this survivor species is present one Wyoming county, one Montana county, one Idaho county, and in several Colorado counties (Eagle, Gilpin, Grand, Gunnison, Huerfano, Lake, and Summit). Aster alpinus is the only USA member of the Aster genus, which contains some 185 species around the world. The subspecies vierhapperi is the form found in the USA. Aster alpinus can be distinguished from the other Watershed genera that used to be included in Aster (Almutaster, Eucephalus, Herrickia, and Symphyotrichum) by its tundra habitat combined with a cluster of oblanceolate to spatulate basal leaves and a few shorter and linear-lanceolate cauline leaves.
- Annotation