Asters (Aster)

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New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

• flowers: many rays
• flowers: long, narrow rays
• flowers: rays dark purple; occasionally white-rayed flowers are found
• leaves: clasping
• habitat: fields
• common
• similar to: Smooth Aster, Purple-stemmed Aster, Amethyst Aster

Purple-stemmed Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)

• flowers: disc flowers yellow becoming purple
• flowers: rays light purplish-blue
• leaves: clasping
• leaves: may be hairy on upper surface
• stem: smooth to densely hairy
• stem: usually reddish-purple
• habitat: wet places
• common
• similar to: New England Aster, Purple-stemmed Aster

Smooth Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)

• flowers: rays light purplish-blue
• leaves: smooth, waxy, almost rubbery
• stems: smooth
• common
• similar to: Purple-stemmed Aster, New England Aster

Amethyst Aster (Symphyotrichum x amethystinum)

• hybrid between New England Aster & Heath Aster
• characteristics are midway between these two species
• leaves: size and form like Heath Aster
• leaves: clasping like New England Aster
• habitat: fields
• uncommon
• similar to: New England Aster, Heath Aster

Heath Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides)

• flowers: many, small, crowded, overlapping
• flowers: rays very short
• flowers: discs stay yellow longer
• leaves: often loses lower leaves
• stems: upper stems crowded with incurved hairs
• habitat: fields
• grows in patches (spreads vegetatively)
• common
• similar to: Calico Aster

Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum)

• flowers: discs turn maroon quicker than others
• flowers: individual corollas more deeply lobed than in other small-flowered white asters.
• branches lateral, widely spreading
• branches relatively long
• habitat: slightly shady places
• common
• similar to: Heath Aster

Azure Aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense)

• flowers: sparse rays
• flowers: rays wide
• flowers: rays light purplish-blue
• leaves: don't have the lobing of Heart-leaved Aster
• leaves: teeth few and obscure
• leaves: feel like fine sandpaper
• looser and more open than Heart-leaved Aster
• less common
• similar to: Heart-leaved Aster, Arrow-leaved Aster, Fringed Blue Aster

Fringed Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum ciliolatum)

• flowers: inflorescence an open panicle
• flowers: inflorescence many-branched; many tiny linear bracts
• leaves: basal/lower: heart-shaped with little or no notch
• stems: upper are pubescent; lower are smooth
• habitat: open woods & meadows
• les common
• similar to: Heart-leaved Aster, Arrow-leaved Aster, Azure Aster

Arrow-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum urophyllum)

• flowers: white rays
• flowers: discs yellow, turn maroon
• flowers: inflorescence narrow, upward ascending branches; "very up"
• leaves: largest leaves at bottom of stem
• leaves: "arrow"-shaped (more like a diamond shape)
• leaves: few; petiole winged
• leaves: teeth few & inconspicuous
• habitat: fields
• common
• similar to: Heart-leaved Aster

Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

• flowers: rays light purplish-blue
• flowers: inflorescence scattered, not flat-topped
• leaves: largest leaves at bottom of stem
• leaves: teeth usually coarse
• leaves: distinctive leaf base, widely notched, lobes often overlapping
• habitat: edges of woods
• common
• similar to: Large-leaved Aster, Arrow-leaved Aster

Large-leaved Aster (Eurybia macrophylla)

• flowers: early in season; earlier than Heart-leaved
• flowers: inflorescence: more or less flat-topped
• leaves: many non-flowering clusters of plants: just leaves
• habitat: in the woods
• common
• similar to: Heart-leaved Aster

Flat-topped White Aster (Doellingeria umbellata)

• flowers: rays white
• flowers: discs yellow becoming brown
• flowers: inflorescence flat-topped
• leaves: upper surface - hairs pointing in one direction - easy to run finger along in one direction only
• leaves: densely packed along upper stem
• leaves: prominent veins
• stem: smooth to densely hairy
• habitat: moist areas
• common

Panicled Aster (Symphyotrichum lanceolatum)

• flowers: white rays, yellow discs
• leaves: narrow
• leaves: lower ones turn brown or are gone by flowering time - dead ones are spiralled
• leaves: largest leaves are well up the stem
• habitat: fields
• common

Rush Aster (Symphyotrichum boreale)

• flowers: sparse
• leaves: long and very narrow
• leaves: edges inrolled (slightly rolled under)
• habitat: bogs
• less common
• similar to: Panicled Aster, Upland White Aster

Upland White Aster (Solidago ptarmicoides)

• flowers: flat-topped cluster
• flowers: white rays
• flowers: few heads per plant, 1-2 per branch
• leaves: narrow
• leaves: basal leaves present at flowering time
• leaves: smaller at top of stem
• habitat: dry areas
• common in certain areas
• similar to: Rush Aster

Frost Aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum)

• flowers: more disc flowers than any other white-rayed Aster
• flowers: discs yellow, stay yellow
• leaves: shaped like Panicled Aster
• leaves: fuzzy
• stem: dense hairs stick straight out; very fuzzy (but there's also a smooth-stemmed variety)
• open, spreading form
• habitat: fields
• common