Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Heart-leaved Aster)

Symphyotrichum cordifolium

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom

Aster cordifolius L.

Aster cordifolius L. ssp. sagittifolius (Wedemeyer ex Willd.) A.G. Jones

Aster cordifolius L. var. furbishiae Fernald

Aster cordifolius L. var. incisus Britton

Aster cordifolius L. var. lanceolatus Porter

Aster cordifolius L. var. moratus (Shinners) Shinners

Aster cordifolius L. var. polycephalus Porter

Aster cordifolius L. var. racemiflorus Fernald

Aster cordifolius L. var. sagittifolius (Wedemeyer ex Willd.) A.G. Jones

Aster finkii Rydb. var. moratus Shinners

Aster lowrieanus Porter var. incisus (Britton) Porter

Aster lowrieanus Porter var. lanceolatus Porter

Aster plumarius Burgess

Aster sagittifolius Wedemeyer ex Willd.

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom var. furbishiae (Fernald) G.L. Nesom

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom var. lanceolatum (Porter) G.L. Nesom

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom var. moratum (Shinners) G.L. Nesom

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom var. polycephalum (Porter) G.L. Nesom

Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom var. racemiflorum (Fernald) G.L. Nesom

Symphyotrichum sagittifolium (Wedemeyer ex Willd.) G.L. Nesom

Heart-leaved Aster, Broad-leaved Aster, Common Blue Wood Aster

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Asterales	Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
Family	Asteraceae	The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
Genus	Symphyotrichum	From Greek symphysis, “borne together or growing together, coalescing,” and trichinos, “hair, a single hair”
Species	cordifolium	Latin for “heart-shaped leaves”

About plant names...

Heart-leaved asters are North American natives.

Identification: Plants are 6-48" (15-121 cm) high, with mostly hairless stems below the flowerheads. Stems are green, reddening with age. Flowerheads are in the shape of panicles, roughly cone-shaped. Individual flowers are ½-¾" (1.5-1.9 cm) in diameter, with 8-20 (usually 10-16) blue to blue-purple ray petals. Sometimes they are pale, almost white. The central disc flowers are yellow, reddening with age. They appear from August to November. Leaves are alternate, on petioles (stalks). They are 1½-6" (3.8-15 cm) long, heart-shaped with deeply cleft bases, pointed, sharply toothed, rough on top, hairy on the underside.

See our aster comparison table here. Or check Arieh Tel’s well-researched and informative aster comparison site.

Online References:

Symphyotrichum cordifolium at the Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Symphyotrichum cordifolium at the University of Wisconsin's Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium

Symphyotrichum cordifolium on the New England Wildflower Society’s GoBotany site

Symphyotrichum cordifolium on the Connecticut Botanical Society's Connecticut wildflowers site

Symphyotrichum cordifolium at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Symphyotrichum cordifolium at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Symphyotrichum cordifolium on Ontario Wildflowers

Symphyotrichum cordifolium on eFloras

References:

Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 18

Newcomb, Lawrence, Morrison, Gordon (Illus.), Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, Little, Brown and Company, 1977, p. 454

Peterson, Roger Tory, McKenny, Margaret, Peterson Field Guides: A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North Central North America, Houghton Mifflin, 1968, p. 354

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm)

8/28/2013 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, MA
≈ 9 × 6" (23 × 15 cm)

9/24/2013 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, MA
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 7 × 4½" (17 × 11 cm)

9/24/2013 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, MA
≈ 8 × 6" (19 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 6 × 7" (14 × 17 cm)

9/30/2013 · Moose Point State Park, Searsport, ME
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 15 cm)

8/28/2013 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, MA
≈ 11 × 7" (28 × 18 cm)

9/18/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, NH
≈ 5 × 8" (13 × 20 cm) ID is uncertain

8/28/2013 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, MA
≈ 11 × 7" (28 × 18 cm)

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 4½ × 6" (11 × 15 cm)

Symphyotrichum cordifolium description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 5 Oct 2016.

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 15 cm)

9/18/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, NH
≈ 11 × 7" (28 × 18 cm) ID is uncertain

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 5 × 7" (13 × 17 cm)

9/10/2016 · Worcester Road Trail, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, NH

9/18/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, NH
≈ 7 × 11" (18 × 28 cm) ID is uncertain

9/30/2013 · Moose Point State Park, Searsport, ME
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm)

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm)

9/24/2013 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, MA
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 5 × 4" (13 × 10 cm)

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, MA
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 14 cm)

9/24/2013 · Squannacook River Wildlife Area, Townsend, MA
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm) ID is uncertain

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 4½ × 4½" (11 × 11 cm)

9/30/2013 · Moose Point State Park, Searsport, ME
≈ 9 × 6" (23 × 15 cm)

10/5/2013 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Pepperell, MA
≈ 6 × 4½" (15 × 11 cm)

Range: Zones 3-8:

About this map...