lava aster, Ionactis alpina
lava aster, Ionactis alpina, Nevada, White Mountains, Montgomery Pass, Columbus Salt Marsh drainage, elevation 2420 m (7940 ft).
This distinctive low perennial aster (formerly also known as Aster scopulorum) is widespread over the western and northern Great Basin and southern Columbia Plateau of the western United States. It prefers dry, open, often shallow rocky volcanic soils from the high valleys up to the subalpine zone (about 1300-3300 meters or 4200-11000 feet elevation). Appropriately the name Ionactis translates from Greek as "violet ray."
lava aster, Ionactis alpina
lava aster, Ionactis alpina, Nevada, White Mountains, Montgomery Pass, Columbus Salt Marsh drainage, elevation 2420 m (7940 ft).
This distinctive low perennial aster (formerly also known as Aster scopulorum) is widespread over the western and northern Great Basin and southern Columbia Plateau of the western United States. It prefers dry, open, often shallow rocky volcanic soils from the high valleys up to the subalpine zone (about 1300-3300 meters or 4200-11000 feet elevation). Appropriately the name Ionactis translates from Greek as "violet ray."