Aster tataricus

{{short description|Species of plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Aster Tataricus.JPG |genus = Aster |species = tataricus |authority = L. f.<ref name=grin>{{GRIN | date=1998-10-07}}</ref> }}

'''''Aster tataricus''''', also called '''Tatarian aster''' and '''Tatarinow's aster''',<ref name=grin/><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |title=English Names for Korean Native Plants |publisher=Korea National Arboretum |year=2015 |isbn=978-89-97450-98-5 |location=Pocheon |pages=367 |access-date=17 December 2016 |via=Korea Forest Service |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105020/http://www.forest.go.kr/kna/special/download/English_Names_for_Korean_Native_Plants.pdf |archivedate=25 May 2017 }}</ref> is a member of the ''Aster'' genus of flowering plants.

== Description == Perennial that typically grows up to 2 meters tall and spreads up to 1.2 meters wide.<ref name=":1" />

Stem is described as scabrous, hardly twice as long as the leaves growing directly from its base, with few narrower leaves.

Radical leaves are lanceolate-ovate, deeply serrated with the exception of the apex and base of the leaf and often decurrent into petioles.

Flower count ranges from five to eight in a single inflorescence, each one large in proportion. The peduncle of the inflorescence has two thin and alternate bracts.

Calyx is imbricate in shape, slightly purplish at the apex of each sepal.

Ray flowers are large and blue-colored.

== Distribution == The species is native to Asia,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Aster tataricus L.f. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:182425-1 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> with its occurrence ranging from South Siberia to China to Japan. Additionally, it has been introduced into Germany and multiple states of the Eastern United States, such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Alabama and Georgia.<ref name=":0" />

==Uses==

===Culinary=== Known as ''gaemichwi'' ({{lang|ko|개미취}}) in Korean, the plant is considered a ''chwinamul'' (edible ''Aster'') variety used in Korean cuisine.

===Medicinal=== It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs of traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name ''zǐwǎn'' ({{lang-zh|c=紫菀}}). It has an antibacterial action, inhibiting the growth of ''Staphylococcus aureus'', ''E. coli'', ''Shigella dysenteriae'', ''B. typhi'', ''Pseudomonas'' and ''Vibrio proteus''.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Aster+tataricus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909082247/http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Aster+tataricus |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-09-09 |title=Aster tataricus - Plants For A Future database report |accessdate=2008-02-05 }}</ref>{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}

==In culture== In Japan, ''Aster tataricus'' is known as ''shion'', or {{lang|ja|紫苑}}. The flower has a meaning in ''hanakotoba'', the Japanese language of flowers, which corresponds to "I won't forget you."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hana300.com/sion00.html|title=Aster tataricus (Shion) - 紫苑 (シオン)|accessdate=2011-09-18}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons-inline|italic=1}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100909082247/http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Aster+tataricus Plants for a future Database]

tataricus Category:Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus the Younger Category:Plants described in 1782 Category:Flora of Korea