Symphyotrichum racemosum(Elliott) G.L.Nesom

smooth white oldfield aster

WFO wfo-0000092067 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by Douglas Goldman
fig. a Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-10-06 / obs. 182321547
Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by Elias
fig. b Elias, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 158733806
Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by Reid Hardin
fig. c Reid Hardin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 101945677
Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by John Kees
fig. d John Kees, CC0 1.0 / obs. 121936367
Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by Mike Gooley
fig. e Mike Gooley, CC0 1.0 / obs. 100199236
Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by Laura J. Costello
fig. f Laura J. Costello, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 96366206
Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by John Baur
fig. g John Baur, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 53432677
Symphyotrichum racemosum, photographed by mefisher
fig. h mefisher, CC0 1.0 / obs. 52633899

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 32 botanical countries

Regions where Symphyotrichum racemosum is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMissouriNew BrunswickNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaOntarioPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVermontVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.
Native distribution of Symphyotrichum racemosum, 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
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Missouri MSO
New Brunswick NBR
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Vermont VER
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 11 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 brachypholis Small
  • Aster foliolosus Aiton
  • Aster fragilis Willd.
  • Aster fragilis var. brachypholis A.G.Jones
  • Aster fragilis var. subdumosus (Wiegand) A.G.Jones
  • Aster fragilis var. subinteger DC.
  • Aster racemosus Elliott
  • Aster tradescantii var. fragilis (Willd.) Torr. & A.Gray
  • Aster vimineus var. subdumosus Wiegand
  • Symphyotrichum racemosum var. racemosum
  • Symphyotrichum racemosum var. subdumosum (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.