Hi Please identify this flower common name and latin if possible. I had originaly ended up with this wild Alberta flower by digging up a silver willow as I wanted to place it as a plant in my back yard. This Aster began growing and quickly became the dominant plant in the pot. I got it from a ditch near the road west of Calgary 50 Kilometers. It is such a beauty at this time having more than 60 flowers that I have to know its origin and name. The flowers are lilac coloured with bright yellow center. The flowers you are veiwing are beginning to deteriorate. I have supplied clear leaf and floral view. I am thinking it is a Showy Fleabane but would like to know for sure.
Hello, Showy aster (not showy fleabane), scientifically known as Eurybia spectabilis (and formerly Aster spectabilis), is certainly a possibility. I'll have to check the Flora of Alberta to be sure, sometime in the next few days.
Nix my last reply: that's what I get for not glancing at the distribution of the species. Eurybia spectabilis is eastern North American, not Albertan. That being said, I still think it's an aster. Aster identification is notoriously difficult without a specimen in hand (one needs to look at things like the tips of the small bracts that subtend the flowers and the hairs on the leaves and petioles). Most likely, it is Lindley's aster, Aster ciliolatus, or smooth aster, Aster laevis. An easy way to tell the difference between the two is the length of the petiole on the leaves near the base of the plant - Lindley's aster has leaves with long petioles, whereas smooth aster's leaves are either attached to the stem without a petiole or have a very short one. Leaf - Wikipedia
