Bigleaf aster is named after the large heart shaped leaves. These leaves are up 8 inches long and 6 inches wide, on long stems. They become progressively smaller up the main stem; leaves at the top of the plant have little or no leaf stem. All leaves are coarsely toothed; attachment is alternate. You should be aware that not all plants will flower, so make sure you can be happy with a leafy plant. It is actually a great seasonal groundcover. The flowers of Eurybia macrophylla are quite irregular – the flowers actually look messy. They consist of 9 to 20 pale blue to violet petals spaced around a yellow center. As you can tell from the picture, the center turns reddish brown later in the fall.
Bigleaf aster actually needs some amount of light for flowering and subsequent seed production, which can be quite prolific. In dense forest you may just see the leaves, and the flowering stems are typically not present. In those habitats the plant forms colonies from the rhizomes. In a sense, this plant keeps its options open – it can thrive in deep shade, and it can suddenly take advantage of changes (like a tree falling and creating a clearing that brings more light to the forest floor) and adapt its reproductive ways.
Eurybia macrophylla is visited by butterflies. There are some culinary uses as the young leaves may be cooked and eaten. Macrophylla means large leaf in Greek and some other uses come to mind – it is not called lumberjack toilet paper for nothing…
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