Symphyotrichum is a genus of over 100 species and naturally occurring hybrids of herbaceous annual and perennial plants in the composite family Asteraceae, most which were formerly treated within the genus Aster. The majority are endemic to North America, but several also occur in the West Indies, Central and South America, as well as in eastern Eurasia. Several species have been introduced to Europe as garden specimens, most notably New England aster and New York aster.
Symphyotrichum ericoides, known as white heath aster, frost aster, or heath aster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to much of central and eastern North America. It has been introduced to parts of Europe and western Asia.
Symphyotrichum laeve is a flowering plant native to Canada, the United States, and Coahuila (Mexico). It has the common names of smooth blue aster, smooth aster, smooth-leaved aster, glaucous Michaelmas-daisy and glaucous aster.
Symphyotrichum sericeum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to central North America. Commonly known as western silver aster, western silvery aster, and silky aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 70 centimeters tall. Its flowers have purple ray florets and pink then purple disk florets, and its leaves are firm and silvery-green.
Symphyotrichum frondosum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to western North America. Commonly known as short-rayed alkali aster, it is an annual or perennial herbaceous plant that may reach 140 centimeters tall.
Symphyotrichum lentum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae with the common name of Suisun Marsh aster. It is a perennial and herbaceous plant endemic to the marshes of Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta of Northern California.
Symphyotrichum depauperatum, commonly known as serpentine aster or starved aster, is a rare species in the family Asteraceae adapted to serpentine barrens, an ecosystem with a high concentration of toxic metals in the soil. It has been found in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and on some diabase glades in North Carolina. It grows to 50 centimeters and has white ray florets surrounding a center of yellow disk florets.
Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, commonly known as skyblue aster and azure aster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern North America.
Symphyotrichum shortii, commonly called Short's aster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is primarily found in interior areas east of the Mississippi River. Its natural habitat is in thin rocky soils of woodlands and thickets often around limestone bluffs. It is common throughout much of its range, although it is generally restricted to intact natural communities.
Symphyotrichum urophyllum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern North America, commonly known as arrowleaf aster.
Symphyotrichum racemosum is a species of flowering plant native to parts of the United States and introduced in Canada. It is known as smooth white oldfield aster and small white aster. It is a perennial, herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a late-summer and fall blooming flower.
Symphyotrichum ciliatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to North America and eastern Eurasia. Commonly known as rayless annual aster and rayless alkali aster, it is an annual, herbaceous plant that may reach over 70 centimeters in height. Each flower head has many whitish then pink disk florets and no ray florets ("rayless").
Symphyotrichum hallii is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae endemic to western Oregon and Washington states. Commonly known as Hall's aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant with a long rhizome that creates colonies of itself. It grows about 30–60 centimeters tall, and has white rays that open July–August.
Symphyotrichum porteri is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae endemic to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Commonly known as Porter's aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 10 to 50 centimeters tall. Its flowers have white, rarely pinkish, ray florets and yellow, becoming pink then brown, disk florets. S. porteri grows at elevations of 1,800–2,900 meters. Its limited range makes it a NatureServe Vulnerable (G3) species, and it is classified Critically Imperiled (S1) in Wyoming.
Symphyotrichum yukonense is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae endemic to disjunct areas in Alaska and the Canadian territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories. Commonly known as Yukon aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant 5 to 30 centimeters in height. Its flowers have purple to blue ray florets and yellow to brown disk florets. S. yukonense grows at elevations of 300–1,500 meters in mud flats and on sandy or silty lake shores. It is a NatureServe Vulnerable (G3) species and is classified Imperiled (S2) in its Canadian range.
Symphyotrichum anomalum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Commonly known as manyray aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 20 to 120 centimeters tall. Its flowers have lavender or blue to purple, seldom white, ray florets and cream or light yellow, then pinkish-purple disk florets. Its flowers are attractive to butterflies. The lower leaves have untoothed margins and are heart-shaped at the base.
Symphyotrichum undulatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern North America. Commonly known as wavyleaf aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that flowers August through October and may reach heights between 30 and 160 centimeters.
Symphyotrichum adnatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to the southeastern United States and the Bahamas. Commonly known as scaleleaf aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 30 to 120 centimeters tall. Its flowers have lavender ray florets and yellow disk florets.
Symphyotrichum eulae is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae endemic to Texas. Commonly known as Eula's aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 5 to 150 centimeters in height. Its flowers have usually white to bluish or lavender-white ray florets and yellow then reddish to brown disk florets. It was named for Eula Whitehouse, American botanist, botanical illustrator, and plant collector.
Symphyotrichum divaricatum is an annual and herbaceous plant commonly known as southern annual saltmarsh aster. It is native to the southern United States and some northern states of Mexico.
