Symphyotrichum prenanthoides

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Perennial. Colony-forming from rhizomes. Typical height is from 2 to 3 feet. Stems are glabrous toward the base, becoming pubescent in lines toward the summit; sometimes also bent at the nodes (zigzag) within the inflorescence.

The inflorescence is usually round-topped to broadly peaked.

Flower heads are radiate. Rays are pale blue-violet. Disc floret corollas are yellow, turning reddish with age. Tips of involucral bracts are often abruptly recurved. Dark green zones are oblanceolate.

Basal leaves are usually deciduous by flowering. Stem leaves are oblanceolate, typically abruptly tapered to a more/less broad, winged, auriculate clasping petiole.

Plants of mesic woods and clearings, swamps, roadside ditches, wet meadows and thickets. Flowers mid-August through September. Native.

Similar species: Symphyotrichum puniceum, Symphyotrichum firmum.