Charming woody-aster

Aster venustus M. E. Jones, Zoë 2: 247. 1891; Machaeranthera venusta (M. E. Jones) Cronquist & D. D. Keck

Perennials or subshrubs, 10–40 cm. Stems branched mostly in proximal ³ / 4 (leafy in proximal ¹ / 2 – ² / 3 ), densely villoso-puberulent to glabrate, eglandular. Leaf blades oblanceolate to oblong-spatulate, 2–15 mm wide, bases attenuate, not clasping, margins flat, entire, faces densely villoso-puberulent to glabrate. Peduncles 5–20 cm. Involucres 12–20 × 20–35(–40) mm. Ray florets 14–34; corollas white to pale lavender. Style-branch appendages shorter than stigmatic lines. 2n = 12, 24.

Flowering Apr–Jun. Barren, open sites, often selenious, alkaline, dominated by saltbush and shadscale; 1300–2100 m; Colo., Utah.