The photo above shows a close-up of the flower head of western mountain aster as found in a vernally moist area along Road K1000 to the east of the Mount Adams Highway.........June 17, 2006.
Western aster is an erect perennial wildflower arising 20-100 cm from a creeping rhizome. The herbage is generally smooth or without hairs. The lower stem leaves are oblanceolate in shape and petiolate, and they tend to persist into flowering. They may have entire or serrate margins. The middle and upper leaves are narrower with entire margins and measure from 3-15 cm long and 3-15 mm wide. The leaves tend to be 7-20 times longer than they are wide.
The inflorescence is a corymb or cymose panicle of one to many flower heads about 2.5 cm wide. The involucre is 5-7 mm high with obtuse to acutely tipped bracts. The bracts are green and occasional purple margined. Individual bracts are narrowly linear or linear-oblong with short hairs along the margins. The 20-50 rays are about 6-15 mm long and blue, violet or purple in color.
Variety intermedius is much larger and more branched than variety occidentalis with more flower heads arranged in a leafy-bracteate inflorescence.
Western aster may be found in mountain meadows and in riparian areas along streams and rivers. Variety intermedius may be found at lower elevations than variety occidentalis.
Western mountain aster is found from British Columbia south through Washington and Oregon to California, and eastward to Idaho and Colorado.
The photos above show various views of western mountain aster as seen in prairie alongside Lakeside Road in Conboy Lake NWR..........August 10, 2007.
The 3 photos above show close-ups of western mountain aster as seen in Swampy Meadows on the western slopes of Mt. Adams........September 6, 2008.