Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
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| Western western showy aster. Wikimedia Commons image by Franz Xaver. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Reed, William R. 1993. Eurybia conspicua. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/eurcon/all.html [].
Revisions:
On 24 April 2018, the common name of this species was changed in FEIS
from: showy aster
to: western western showy aster. Images were also added.
ABBREVIATION :
EURCON
SYNONYMS :
Aster conspicuus Lindl. [10,14,28]
NRCS PLANT CODE :
ASCO3
COMMON NAMES :
western western showy aster
western showy aster
conspicuous aster
creeping aster
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of western showy aster is Eurybia conspicua
(Lindl.) Nesom [29,30]. There are no recognized infrataxa.
LIFE FORM :
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Western showy aster is distributed from Yukon Territory east to
Saskatchewan, south to northern Wyoming, and west to northeastern
Oregon [10,14].
 |
| Distribution of western western showy aster. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC [2018, April 24] [26]. |
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES29 Sagebrush
STATES :
ID MT OR WA WY AB BC SK YT
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
2 Cascade Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
K014 Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K055 Sagebrush steppe
SAF COVER TYPES :
201 White spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
207 Red fir
210 Interior Douglas-fir
211 White fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
215 Western white pine
218 Lodgepole pine
219 Limber pine
237 Interior ponderosa pine
251 White spruce - aspen
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Common plant associates of western showy aster include heartleaf arnica (Arnica
cordifolia), Lindley aster (Aster ciliolatus), pinegrass (Calamagrostis
rubescens), white spiraea (Spiraea betulifolia), huckleberry (Vaccinium
spp.), and elk sedge (Carex geyeri).
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Western showy aster is a common constituent of summer diets of black bear in
lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests of Alberta [11].
Western showy aster is preferred forage for grizzly bears in the Bob Marshall
Wilderness Area, northwestern Montana [17].
PALATABILITY :
Western showy aster provides valuable forage for deer, elk, cattle, and domestic
sheep in Idaho and British Columbia [18,21].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Western showy aster is low in resistance to repeated human trampling, but it may
recover rapidly. In montane grassland in Montana, western showy aster cover
increased more than 30 percent between the end of August and the
following June [3].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Western showy aster cover decreased from 4.4 to 0.7 percent under heavy grazing
in a Douglas-fir forest in northern Idaho [27]. It also declined in
abundance and vigor following heavy grazing in a Douglas-fir vegetation
type in British Columbia [25], and decreased to 0.0 percent frequency
following 12 years of heavy grazing in a mountain meadow community in
northern Idaho [15].
Western showy aster increased following clearcutting in a Douglas-fir/ninebark
(Physocarpus malvaceus) habitat type in western Montana [1].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Western showy aster is a native, perennial herb. Its peduncle is 1 to 2 feet
(30-60 cm) tall, and it usually has several shorter sterile stems
arising from extensive creeping rhizomes [14]. Rhizomes grow 0.5 to 2.0
inches (0.5-5 cm) below the soil surface [4]. Flowers are borne in an
open, flat-topped inflorescence [10,14].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Sexual: Western showy aster reproduces by seed. Seeds are wind dispersed long
distances and can germinate on bare soil [5,18,20].
Asexual: Western showy aster sprouts from extensive, creeping rhizomes [4,18].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Western showy aster occurs in continental boreal and cool-temperate climates on
moderately dry soils. It is a common interior species on "water
shedding" sites [12]. It is most common in montane zones, but is also
found in forested areas of valley and lower subalpine zones [14]. In
Wyoming western showy aster occurs from 5,500 to 9,000 feet (1,667-2,727 m)
elevation. In Montana it is found from 3,000 to 7,100 feet (910-2,152
m) elevation [6].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Western showy aster is tolerant of both sun and shade. Small colonies typically
establish following stand-destroying fires or clearcutting and site
scarification [20,22]. Western showy aster produces more vegetative growth and
fewer flowering stems with increasing shade in later succession [14].
It can, however, maintain extensive colonies beneath pine (Pinus spp.)
and open Douglas-fir canopies. It is an indicator of late seres in
Douglas fir/ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus) habitat types of central
Idaho [20].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Western showy aster flowers in late summer throughout its range [14].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Western showy aster is moderately resistant to fire, typically sprouting from
surviving rhizomes. Rhizomes usually survive light- to
moderate-severity fires that do not cause excessive soil heating [4,8].
After fire, western showy aster also regenerates from wind-dispersed and
soil-stored seed [5,20,24]. Growth is stimulated after fire, resulting
in mass flowering in the first few postfire years [22,23,24].
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Western showy aster is top-killed by fire. Because rhizomes often survive, the
species has been classified as moderately resistant to fire [8].
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Western showy aster increases rapidly after fire [16,18]. Western showy aster exhibits
mass flowering in postfire years 1 and 2. The extent of flowering is
directly related to prefire abundance and postfire survivorship
[22,23,24]. Western showy aster frequency increased from 8 percent before fire
to 20 percent 2 years after a moderate-severity fire in a Douglas-fir
forest in Idaho. By postfire year 7, western showy aster frequency increased to
52 percent [16]. Following the 1977 Pattee Canyon Fire in Missoula,
Montana, western showy aster cover was 1.4 percent in 1978 and 2.0 percent in
1982 [16].
On ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir communities in the Blue Mountains
of northeastern Oregon, western showy aster frequency and cover were higher on
sites that had been thinned 6 years previously than on prescribed burned,
thinned-and-burned, or control sites. Western showy aster was determined to be
an indicator species for thinned sites (P≤0.05). For further information
on the effects of thinning and burning treatments on western showy aster and 48
other species, see the Research Project Summary of Youngblood and others'
[50] study.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
Lyon's Research Paper and the following Research Project
Summaries also provide information on prescribed fire use and postfire
response of plant community species including western showy aster:
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Eurybia conspicua
REFERENCES :
1. Arno, Stephen F.; Simmerman, Dennis G.; Keane, Robert E. 1985. Forest
succession on four habitat types in western Montana. Gen. Tech. Rep.
INT-177. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 74 p. [349]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Cole, David N. 1988. Disturbance and recovery of trampled montane
grassland and forests in Montana. Res. Pap. INT-389. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 37 p. [3622]
4. Crane, M. F.; Fischer, William C. 1986. Fire ecology of the forest
habitat types of central Idaho. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-218. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 85 p. [5297]
5. Crane, M. F.; Habeck, James R.; Fischer, William C. 1983. Early postfire
revegetation in a western Montana Douglas-fir forest. Res. Pap. INT-319.
Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain
Forest and Range Experiment Station. 29 p. plus chart. [710]
6. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information
network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and
Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
7. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
8. Fischer, William C.; Bradley, Anne F. 1987. Fire ecology of western
Montana forest habitat types. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-223. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 95 p. [633]
9. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
10. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1973. Flora of the Pacific
Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
11. Holcroft, Anne C.; Herrero, Stephen. 1991. Black bear, Ursus americanus,
food habits in southwestern Alberta. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 105(3):
335-345. [18673]
12. Klinka, K.; Krajina, V. J.; Ceska, A.; Scagel, A. M. 1989. Indicator
plants of coastal British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: University of British
Columbia Press. 288 p. [10703]
13. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
14. Lackschewitz, Klaus. 1991. Vascular plants of west-central
Montana--identification guidebook. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-227. Ogden, UT:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 648 p. [13798]
15. Leege, Thomas A.; Herman, Daryl J.; Zamora, Benjamin. 1981. Effects of
cattle grazing on mountain meadows in Idaho. Journal of Range
Management. 34(4): 324-328. [2961]
16. Lyon, L. Jack. 1966. Initial vegetal development following prescribed
burning of Douglas-fir in south-central Idaho. Res. Pap. INT-29. Ogden,
UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest
and Range Experiment Station. 17 p. [1494]
17. Mace, Richard D. 1986. Analysis of grizzly bear habitat in the Bob
Marshall Wilderness, Montana. In: Contreras, Glen P.; Evans, Keith E,
compilers. Proceedings--grizzly bear habitat symposium; 1985 April 30 -
May 2; Missoula, MT. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-207. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station: 136-149.
[10814]
18. McLean, Alastair. 1968. Fire resistance of forest species as influenced
by root systems. Journal of Range Management. 22: 120-122. [1621]
19. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
20. Steele, Robert; Geier-Hayes, Kathleen. 1989. The Douglas-fir/ninebark
habitat type in central Idaho: succession and management. Gen. Tech.
Rep. INT-252. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Intermountain Research Station. 65 p. [8136]
21. Steele, Robert; Geier-Hayes, Kathleen. 1993. The Douglas-fir/pinegrass
habitat type in central Idaho: succession and management. Gen. Tech.
Rep. INT-298. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Intermountain Research Station. 83 p. [21512]
22. Stickney, Peter F. 1980. Data base for post-fire succession, first 6 to
9 years, in Montana larch-fir forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-62. Ogden,
UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest
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23. Stickney, Peter. 1989. After forest wildfire, then what? .... Masses of
flowers!. Words on Wilderness: The Newsletter of the Wilderness Studies
Information Center. Missoula, MT: University of Montana: 6. [17441]
24. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
25. Tisdale, E. W.; McLean, A. 1957. The douglas-fir zone of southern
interior British Columbia. Ecological Monographs. 27(3): 247-266.
[8866]
26. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2018. PLANTS Database, [Online].
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27. Zimmerman, G. T.; Neuenschwander, L. F. 1984. Livestock grazing
influences on community structure, fire intensity, and fire frequency
within the Douglas-fir/ninebark habitat type. Journal of Range
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28. Chambers, Kenton L.; Sundberg, Scott. 2001. Oregon vascular plant checklist:
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University (Producer). Available:
http://oregonflora.org/asterlist/Asteraceae.html [2005, October 18]. [54819]
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Astereae), emphasizing the New World species. Phytologia. 77: 259. [54820]
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FEIS Home Page
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