Aster novi-belgii L.

Posted onAuthorDr. Christian Ries

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English Confused Michaelmas-daisy Status LU: established. 1st record: LU & ITW <1872.
Lëtzebuergesch Neibelsch Aster Status Eur.: established. 1st record: 1710, ITW 1865.
Français Aster de viriginie RA: ISEIA: C1. Harmonia+: 0,08
Deutsch Neubelgische Aster Wikipedia: Wikipedia - English - Confused Michaelmas-daisy Wikipedia - Français - Aster de viriginie Wikipedia - deutsch - Neubelgische Aster Wikipedia - Nederlands - Nieuw-Nederlandse aster | Wikispecies: Wikispecies - Symphyotrichum novi-belgii | CABI
Nederlands Nieuw-Nederlandse aster Back to the list of neophytes

Report the species

→ Report Aster novi-belgii to the National Museum of Natural History.

Brief description

Aster novi-belgii L. thrives mostly in ruderal and waste areas, especially on rich and moist soils. It is less often observed in riparian habitats than other North American asters. The plant mainly spreads vegetatively and through fly-tipping of green waste and waste grounds. Seeds do not seem to be able to maturate under Belgian climatic conditions.1

Asters are rhizomatous species, propagating clonally. They easily form dense and wide monospecific colonies, displacing native wetland plants, and favouring the sedimentation and stabilisation of riverbanks, which reduces the ability of rivers to meander and flood (Branquart et al. 2010).

Status and distribution in Luxembourg

Records of Aster novi-belgii L. in Luxembourg. Data source: Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2024-12-21.

Back in 1872, Eugène Fischer listed the species under its synonym Aster floribundus Willd.: “This plant, with a very apparent and late flowering, is often and vulgarly cultivated for the decoration of gardens and especially cemeteries, where it still flowers during the All Saints’ Day period. Many of our cemeteries are teeming with them. It spreads easily and is maintained with persistence. It is frequently found subspontaneously in hedges around homes, gardens and cemeteries. It is so common in the surroundings of Luxembourg that I have often been surprised that Tinant [1836] and the authors of the local flora do not mention it. It is therefore a very modern introduction. It is of American origin” (Fischer 1872: 83).2

Both Koltz (1873: 129; 1874: 30) and Krombach (1875: 345) reiterate it grows in cemeteries, gardens and often subspontaneously in the vicinity of dwellings.

On the 12th November 1906, Félix Heuertz collected Aster novi-belgii ssp. eu-novi-belgii var. tardiflorus on the Prussian riverside across Echternach (Specimen № 13911, MNHNL 2000-a).

The first documented observation of the species in Luxembourg dates from 1949. On 12th September 1949, François Léon Lefort (1917-1975) collected a specimen of Aster novi-belgii ssp. laevigatus (Lam.) Thell. pro parte on the Moselle river bank in Schengen (Specimen № 26905, MNHNL 2000-a).

According to Lambinon & Verloove (2012: 706), the species is rare to very rare (R-RR) around villages, vacant lots, wastelands, and river banks.

Currently, 14 records of the species and its subspecies are accessible through the MNHNL-mdata portal (MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF 2019).

Other Aster taxa

  1. Aster dumosus L. (Syn.: Symphyotrichum dumosum (L.) G. L. Nesom): the bushy aster is first reported by Tinant on the banks of the Moselle (Wirtgen 1842: 89; Lefort 1950: 41). A hybrid Aster dumosus x novi-belgii was collected by Paul Grzonka and Léopold Reichling on 29 September 1959 in Bech-Kleinmacher in the Moselle valley (MNHNL 2000-b).
  2. Aster lanceolatus Willd.: the narrow-leaved Michaelmas-daisy was first collected by Jos. Witry on 24th August 1934 in Grevenmacher in the Moselle valley (MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF 2019).
  3. Aster ×salignus: this hybrid between A. lanceolatus x A. novi-belgii is much confused with both its parents, particularly A. lanceolatus. The common michaelmas daisy was first mentioned by Yves Krippel in 2001 at Pällembierg (MNHNL 2000-b).

Risk assessment

ISEIA protocol

C1 (1+1+1+1) (Ries et al. 2013: 18).

Harmonia+ protocol

Overall risk score 0,08 = (Overall Invasion score 0,31 x Overall Impact score 0,30) (Ries et al. 2020).

0,31Invasion
0,30Impact
0,08Risk

Worldwide distribution

Bibliography

  • Beck, E., Jungblut, F., Lefort, F.L., Reichling, L., Stumper, R., 1952. Herborisations faites au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg en 1951. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 56: 67-88. [PDF 1080 KB]
  • Branquart, E., S. Vanderhoeven, W. Van Landuyt, F. Van Rossum & F. Verloove, 2010. Harmonia database: Aster novi-belgii L. Harmonia version 1.2, Belgian Forum on Invasive Species. URL: http://ias.biodiversity.be [accessed on 2019-10-23]
  • CABI, 2016. Aster novi-belgii [original text by Ilias Travlos]. In: Invasive Species Compendium. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. URL: www.cabi.org/isc [accessed 2020-02-28]
  • Fischer, E., 1872. Les plantes subspontanées et naturalisées de la flore du grand-duché de Luxembourg. Publications de l’Institut royal grand-ducal de Luxembourg, section des sciences naturelles et mathématiques XII: 1-115. Imprimerie V. Buck, Luxembourg.
  • Koltz, J.-P.-J., 1873. Prodrome de la flore du grand-duché de Luxembourg. Première partie. Plantes phanérogames. Imprimerie V. Buck, Luxembourg. 279 S.
  • Koltz, J.-P.-J., 1874. Plantes phanérogames découvertes dans le Grand-Duché depuis la publication de la flore luxembourgeoise de Tinant (1836). Recueil des mémoires et des travaux publiés par la Société de botanique du grand-duché de Luxembourg 1: 12-39.
  • Krombach, J.-H.-G., 1875. Flore du grand-duché de Luxembourg. Plantes phanérogames. 564 p. Luxembourg, Imprimerie Joris.
  • Lambinon J. & F. Verloove, 2012. Nouvelle flore de la Belgique, du grand-duché de Luxembourg, du Nord de la France et des régions voisines. Sixième édition. Avec la collaboration de L. Delvosalle, B. Toussaint, D. Geerinck, I. Hoste, F. Van Rossum, B. Cornier, R. Schumacker, A. Vanderpoorten et H. Vannerom. Jardin botanique national de Belgique, Meise. CXXXIX + 1195 pp. ISBN : 9789072619884.
  • Lefort, F. L., 1950. Contribution à l’histoire botanique du Luxembourg (av. 18 planches). Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 54: 31-160. [PDF 6781 KB]
  • MNHNL, 2000-a. Aster novi-belgii L. in Recorder-Lux, database on the natural heritage of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [Accessed 2019-09-03]
  • MNHNL, 2000-b. Recorder-Lux, database on the natural heritage of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [Accessed 2019-10-24]
  • MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2019. Aster novi-belgii L. in MNHNL-mdata, online portal combining species observation from Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist and GBIF. National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [Accessed 2019-09-06]
  • Ries, C. & Y. Krippel, 2021. First records of 56 invasive alien vascular plants in Luxembourg. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 123: 115-127. [PDF 241 KB]
  • Ries, C., Y. Krippel & M. Pfeiffenschneider, 2020. Risk assessment after the Harmonia+ protocol of invasive alien vascular plant species in Luxembourg. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 122: 197-205. [PDF 132 KB]
  • Ries, C., Y. Krippel, M. Pfeiffenschneider & S. Schneider, 2013. Environmental impact assessment and black, watch and alert list classification after the ISEIA Protocol of non-native vascular plant species in Luxembourg. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 114: 15-21. [PDF 652 KB]
  • Wirtgen, P., 1842. Prodromus der Flora der preussischen Rheinlande. Henry & Cohen, Bonn. 242 p.

 Page content last updated on 2021-03-02. Last proofread by Caroline Grounds on 2019-11-13.

  1. The same should apply under Luxembourgian climate.[↩]
  2. Original text: « Cette plante, à floraison très-apparente et tardive, est souvent et vulgairement cultivée pour l’ornementation des jardins et surtout des cimetières, où elle fleurit encore à l’époque de la Toussaint. Beaucoup de nos cimetières en fourmillent. Elle se propage avec facilité et se maintient avec persistence. On la rencontre fréquemment subspontanée dans les haies aux environs des habitations, des jardins et des cimetières. Elle est si commune dans les environs de Luxembourg, que je me suis souvent étonné de ce que Tinant et les auteurs des flores locales n’en font pas mention. Elle est donc d’introduction très moderne. Elle est d’origine américaine » (Fischer 1872: 83).[↩]