| Aster amellus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Astereae |
| Genus: | Aster |
| Species: | A. amellus |
| Binomial name | |
| Aster amellus |
|
Aster amellus or the European Michaelmas Daisy is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Aster, belonging to the Asteraceae family.
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The genus name (Aster) comes from the Greek and means "star-shaped flower." The specific name (amellus) is first used in the Georgics (Book IV, 271-280), a poem of the Latin poet Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BC - 19 BC), but the etymology is obscure and uncertain.
Aster amellus reaches on average a height of 20–50 centimetres (7.9–20 in). The stem is erect and branched, the leaves are dark green. The basal leaves are obovate and petiolated, the cauline ones are alternate and sessile, increasingly narrower and lanceolate. The flowers are lilac. The flowering period extends from July through October. The hermaphroditic flowers are either self-fertilized (autogamy) or pollinated by insects (entomogamy). The seeds is an achene that ripen in October.
This plant is present on the European mountains from the Pyrenees and the Alps to the Carpathians. Outside Europe is located in western Asia (Turkey), the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia (Kazakhstan).
The typical habitat is the rocky limy areas, the edges of the bushes and copses, but also the sub-alpine meadows, marshy places and lake sides. It prefers calcareous and slightly dry substrate with basic pH and low nutritional value, at an altitude of 0–800 metres (0–2,600 ft) above sea level.