title: Symphyotrichum rhiannon
text: # Symphyotrichum rhiannon
  
  Symphyotrichum rhiannon is a species of flowering plant endemic to a serpentine barren in western North Carolina. It has been given the vernacular Rhiannon's aster and is also known as Buck Creek aster. It is a perennial, herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae.
  
  ## Chromosomes
  
  Symphyotrichum rhiannon has a base number of x = 8. Hexaploid cytotype with a chromosome count of 48 has been reported.
  
  ## Taxonomy
  
  Symphyotrichum rhiannon was formally described by Alan Stuart Weakley and Thomas E. Govus in 2004.
  
  ### Etymology
  
  Kauffman, Nesom, et al., formally explained the etymology of the species as follows:
  
     [It] is named in honor of Rhiannon Weakley, whose desire to rest during a field excursion led the authors to further investigate..., and also in honor of the original Rhiannon, a Welsh goddess figure....
  
  Informally explained, Rhiannon Weakley was the toddler daughter of Alan and Allison Weakley. She needed a snack and a nap during the 2003 field excursion.
  
     "Rhiannon hadn’t had a nap that morning," says Alan Weakley, "and she had a little, ah, loss of composure." So the group plopped down to give Rhiannon a snack and a chance to rest. And there, growing all around, was [Laura] Mansberg's mystery aster.
  
  ## Distribution and habitat
  
  Symphyotrichum rhiannon is endemic to the Buck Creek Serpentine Barrens in Clay County, North Carolina, in the Nantahala National Forest.
  
  ## Conservation
  
  NatureServe lists it as Critically Imperiled (G1).
  
  ## Citations
  
  * 1 2 3 NatureServe (2021).
  * ↑ POWO (2019).
  * ↑ USDA, NRCS (2014).
  * 1 2 3 4 5 Kauffman et al. (2004).
  * ↑ Semple (2021).
  * ↑ Semple (n.d.).
  * ↑ Smith (2005).
  * ↑ USFS (n.d.).
  