Stonecrop aster

Galatella sedifolia, the stonecrop aster or Michaelmas daisy of the steppes, is a slender, glabrous perennial herb of the Asteraceae native to the dry meadows, steppe, and chalk grasslands of central and southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and southwestern Asia. It grows 30-80 cm tall from a creeping rhizome, forming upright tufts of wiry, somewhat woody-based, leafy stems that branch only in the inflorescence. The numerous alternate, sessile leaves are narrowly linear to oblanceolate, 1-5 cm long, fleshy and grey-green, with entire or sparsely toothed margins, recalling the foliage of certain Sedum species, hence the name. From late summer through autumn the stems carry loose, corymbose inflorescences of small, daisy-like heads 1.5-2.5 cm across, each with 7-15 narrow, pale violet to lilac-blue ray florets surrounding a yellow disc. Achenes are silky-hairy and topped with a long, fawn-coloured pappus.