Symphyotrichum tenuifolium(L.) G.L.Nesom

perennial saltmarsh aster

WFO wfo-0000116017 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Susan Christman Williams
fig. a Susan Christman Williams, CC0 1.0 / 2021-10-27 / obs. 166009152
Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Craig Martin
fig. b Craig Martin, CC0 1.0 / obs. 167329582
Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Tom Field
fig. c Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 162891826
Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Susan Christman Williams
fig. d Susan Christman Williams, CC0 1.0 / obs. 156454149
Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Tom Field
fig. e Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 96252839
Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Tom Field
fig. f Tom Field, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 95686931
Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Tyler Bishop
fig. g Tyler Bishop, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54274395
Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, photographed by Sandra Keller
fig. h Sandra Keller, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 27950581

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 20 botanical countries

Regions where Symphyotrichum tenuifolium is native: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode I., South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Bahamas, Cuba AlabamaConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMississippiNew HampshireNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaTexasVirginiaCuba DelawareRhode I.Bahamas
Native distribution of Symphyotrichum tenuifolium, 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
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mississippi MSI
New Hampshire NWH
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
Bahamas BAH SOUTHERN AMERICA
Cuba CUB

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 12 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 bracei Britton ex Small
  • Aster flexuosus Nutt.
  • Aster polyphyllus Pursh ex DC.
  • Aster recurvatus Nees
  • Aster sparsiflorus Pursh
  • Aster tenuifolius L.
  • Aster tenuifolius var. aphyllus R.W.Long
  • Aster tenuifolius var. tenuifolius
  • Aster virgatus Moench
  • Fimbristima flexuosa Raf.
  • Fimbristima sparsiflora Raf.
  • Symphyotrichum bracei (Britton ex Small) 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.