ASTER FAMILY (Compositae or Asteraceae)
IND. STATUS: FACW+
FIELD CHARACTERISTICS: A perennial herb 40 to 150 cm. high. Stem leaves are opposite and grown together around the stem (perfoliate). Stems and leaves are coarsely hairy. The flattish inflorescence lacks ray flowers. Between 9-23 white flowers occur in each head. In bloom from mid-July through September.
ECOLOGICAL NOTES: Boneset grows in a variety of wet habitats including shallow marshes, sedge meadows, fresh (wet) meadows and calcareous fens. It is often associated with groundwater seepages and tends to be a pioneer species.
SOURCE: Gleason and Cronquist (1991); Swink and Wilhelm (1994).