Aha! Notice how the bottom leaves have dried up and dropped off in this photo you posted later ..

AND the remaining lower leaves are looking pretty sickly (dying/drying) too. I sure hope I don't have to wait till November for these babies to bloom though!

Thank you Janet for your tutorials.

I was out earlier putting flagging on some stakes in the field so the bush hog guy can see them easier as we're going to be putting some trees there in the fall. Anyway I found another of these plants out there. Rather than have it mowed down I think after dinner I will go dig it up & pot it.

So we'll wait & see what the blooms do. I can't wait. I have tons of patience but not in this one area. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look forward to it, Ann!

I want to mention this because it might have some relevance. I was looking at info about S. fontinale and on this particular site https://uwaterloo.ca/astereae-... it says "Symphyotrichum fontinale has been considered to be conspecific with S. patens or S. dumosum of subg. Symphyotrichum (A. Cronquist 1980). It fits well into sect. Grandiflori of subg. Virgulus."

Then I remember looking at S. patens in the database the yesterday.

Did you say the plant has milky sap, Ann? If so, that eliminates the Symphyotrichums.

Yes Kent it does have milky sap. I thought we checked that. I know you know your asters! So then back to square one.
Kent, can you name the asters that do have milky sap? and what is your opinion on this? Do you think it's in the aster family? I started to call you to the thread way back in the beginning but then it looked like we were making headway.

Did you rule out Indian Hemp? I think I remember someone suggesting this earlier but haven't gone back up thread to re-read.
Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum)
http://www.imagejuicy.com/imag...

I don't know if Oclemena reticulata (Pine Barren Aster/ White Top Aster) has milky sap but here are some photos for comparison:
http://www.wildflower.org/gall...
http://florida.plantatlas.usf....
It's found in Fla: http://florida.plantatlas.usf....

Thanks Lin, I had already ruled both of those out.

It's in the Aster family, yes. But, there are 20,000+ species in the Asteraceae, so that doesn't really narrow it down much. Most (not all) of the species in the family with milky sap are in the subfamily Cichorioideae. That narrows it down some, but there are still about 3,000 species in that subfamily.

At this point, I really couldn't even guess what it is (which is why I didn't say anything until now). I can say some things it is NOT, which isn't all that helpful. Sorry.

Well any help at all is better than none so I'm ahead of the game at least some. I appreciate your input regardless Kent. And at least you believe it's in the aster family. That cuts out quite a few that I though might be possibilities.
It may behoove me to just wait until it blooms & stop beating my head against a brick wall for the time being. When it blooms it *should* narrow the field considerably don't you think Kent? @KentPfeiffer

wildflowers said:Look forward to it, Ann!

I want to mention this because it might have some relevance. I was looking at info about S. fontinale and on this particular site https://uwaterloo.ca/astereae-... it says "Symphyotrichum fontinale has been considered to be conspecific with S. patens or S. dumosum of subg. Symphyotrichum (A. Cronquist 1980). It fits well into sect. Grandiflori of subg. Virgulus."

Then I remember looking at S. patens in the database the yesterday.

• Late Purple Aster (Symphyotrichum patens)
• Uploaded by flaflwrgrl

I had to laugh Christine!

flaflwrgrl said:And last but not least -- I pulled a leaf from the stem & there is milky sap

• Hieracium
• Uploaded by flaflwrgrl

The sap is going to important, I think. A lot of plants that I've thought look similar don't have that and some that look similar that do have sap don't have the hair. The bloom will probably make it identifiable.

I agree Donald. In all the other stuff I somehow lost sight of the sap issue. That is paramount. And the final clincher will be the blooms.

Oh Kent, you are a spoil sport. We had such a good trail going there.

Back to the drawing board.

We have blooms!!!!!!!!!! They are yellow.
I went out to dig that one up & spied yet another & that one had blooms. Cruddy photo but I will post it anyway. I will try to get a better photo later when lighting seems to be more favorable.



The problem now is that I can not seem to find the subfamily Cichorioideae here:
http://florida.plantatlas.usf....

Hmm... looks like a dandelion. LOL!

It does. But dandelions are in the aster family as I understand it so it stands to reason the blooms would be reminiscent.

Maybe Hawkweed
http://www.wildflphoto.com/spe...

Maybe a variety of Hawkeed (Hieracium)? I think there are a few that are found in Fla.

https://www.google.com/search?...

Christine beat me to it ... LOL, I'm so slow!

It's also called Rattlesnake Weed. Here's another for comparison:

http://uswildflowers.com/detai...