Symphyotrichum praealtum(Poir.) G.L.Nesom

willowleaf aster

WFO wfo-0000135432 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. a Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-23 / obs. 159290159
Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Paul Roots
fig. b Paul Roots, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 158040743
Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Becky Dill
fig. c Becky Dill, CC0 1.0 / obs. 102422997
Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. d Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 100998916
Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Philip Vanbergen
fig. e Philip Vanbergen, CC0 1.0 / obs. 54008694
Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. f Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 53331159
Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. g Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 52920076
Symphyotrichum praealtum, photographed by Lauren McLaurin
fig. h Lauren McLaurin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 27030355

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 36 botanical countries

Regions where Symphyotrichum praealtum is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico NortheastMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNebraskaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Symphyotrichum praealtum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Northeast MXE
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Nebraska NEB
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Wisconsin WIS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 23 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aster carneus Torr. & A.Gray ex Benth.
  • Aster coerulescens DC.
  • Aster coerulescens var. angustior (Wiegand) Fernald
  • Aster coerulescens var. coerulescens
  • Aster nebraskensis Britton
  • Aster novi-belgii var. litoreus A.Gray
  • Aster praealtus Poir.
  • Aster praealtus var. angustior Wiegand
  • Aster praealtus var. coerulescens (DC.) A.G.Jones
  • Aster praealtus var. nebraskensis (Britton) Wiegand
  • Aster praealtus var. praealtus
  • Aster praealtus var. subasper Wiegand
  • Aster praealtus var. texicola Wiegand
  • Aster robustus hort. ex Nees
  • Aster salicifolius Aiton
  • Aster salicifolius f. subasper (Lindl. ex Hook.) Voss
  • Aster salicifolius var. subasper (Lindl. ex Hook.) A.Gray
  • Aster subasper Lindl.
  • Symphyotrichum novi-belgii var. litoreum (A.Gray) G.L.Nesom
  • Symphyotrichum praealtum subsp. angustior (Wiegand) A.Haines
  • Symphyotrichum praealtum var. nebraskense (Britton) G.L.Nesom
  • Symphyotrichum praealtum var. praealtum
  • Symphyotrichum praealtum var. texicola (Wiegand) G.L.Nesom

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.