Symphyotrichum shortii(Lindl.) G.L.Nesom

Short's aster

WFO wfo-0000004994 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by Mike B
fig. a Mike B, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-10-10 / obs. 162691743
Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by Yann Kemper
fig. b Yann Kemper, CC0 1.0 / obs. 162772783
Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by Ryan Sorrells
fig. c Ryan Sorrells, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 162534136
Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by Alby Penney
fig. d Alby Penney, CC0 1.0 / obs. 161641288
Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by Alby Penney
fig. e Alby Penney, CC0 1.0 / obs. 161640855
Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by botanygirl
fig. f botanygirl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175288803
Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by Tom Lazar
fig. g Tom Lazar, CC0 1.0 / obs. 159636249
Symphyotrichum shortii, photographed by ubuntu
fig. h ubuntu, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 102561155

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 19 botanical countries

Regions where Symphyotrichum shortii is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin AlabamaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMinnesotaMississippiNorth CarolinaOntarioPennsylvaniaTennesseeVirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin
Native distribution of Symphyotrichum shortii, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kentucky KTY
Maryland MRY
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
North Carolina NCA
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Tennessee TEN
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 9 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 camptosorus Small
  • Aster shortii Lindl.
  • Aster shortii f. candidus Benke
  • Aster shortii f. gronemannii Benke
  • Aster shortii f. shortii
  • Aster shortii subsp. shortii
  • Aster shortii var. camptosorus (Small) D.B.Ward
  • Aster shortii var. monroei Benke
  • Aster shortii var. shortii

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.