Bushy Aster

Symphyotrichum dumosum

Pollinator Value

🐝 Specialist Bee Host: Andrena hirticincta, Andrena nubecula, Andrena placata, Andrena simplex, Colletes americanus, Colletes compactus, Colletes simulans, Perdita octomaculata, Melissodes druriellus
S17 genus-level Symphyotrichum pollen specialists with Eastern NA ranges

Proximity Score: 1
Native Status: ❌ Outaouais ❌ Ottawa ❌ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: S
CEC Eco-Regions: 8 – Eastern Temperate Forests, 8.1 – Mixed Wood Plains, 8.1.1 – Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands
Rarity Notes: Globally secure (G5) but nationally imperiled in Canada (N2). Ranked S2 (Imperiled) in Ontario, its only native Canadian province [S22+S1]. Not listed under SARA. In Ontario, restricted primarily to sandy shoreline and wetland habitats around the Great Lakes [S7+S4].
S22+S1+S26+S7+S4
Rarity Ranks: QC SNA – Not Applicable, ON S2 – Imperiled
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: A slender perennial of sandy open ground, interdunal swales, and occasionally marshy sites in the Great Lakes lowlands [S4+S7]. In Ontario, it favours sandy to mucky or marly lakeshores, sedge meadows, wet prairies, fens, and oak-pine clearings. Near its northern range limit around the Great Lakes, it is uncommon and locally restricted to shoreline areas [S4+S10]. Ranked S2 (Imperiled) in Ontario.
S4+S7+S10+S22

Roles: Fortress/Barrier, Pollinator Attractor
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Fortress/Barrier: S61 keyword match: spines? (supporting signal only)] | Pollinator Attractor: S73 [MEDIUM]: S68 13 bee associations (threshold=3)]

✅ Edible

Foraging Notes: The Tewa people ate the small fruits. This is an obscure ethnobotanical food use with no modern culinary significance.
S28