Common Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) G.L. Nesom)
Also known as Blue wood-aster, heart-leaved aster, heart leaved aster; also classified as Aster cordifolius.
↑Range - Expand
| Legend | Color |
| Native | |
| Native or Not Present |
This tentative map is based on our own research. It may have limited data on Canada and/or Mexico, and there is some subjectivity in our assignment of plants as introduced vs. expanded. Read more in this blog post.
Although this plant occurs somewhere in each of these regions, it may only occur in a small part of some or all of them.
↑Life Cycle
A perennial that reproduces both by seed and vegetatively by short rhizomes.
First-year plants often flower but do not usually reach full height and do not usually produce many flowers or much seed. Spreads by rhizomes, but new stems are usually within a few inches of the original, leading to a clumping growth habit, although some individual plants exhibit a tendency to travel farther when forming new stems and form a more patch- or colony-like growth habit.
Stems do not usually support their own weight, and in the absence of supporting vegetation, will often flop over.
Blooms late summer into fall; often blooms up to and sometimes even through the first few frosts. Bloom timing can be influenced by sun exposure and can differ substantially between different plants in different microclimates.
↑Uses
Sometimes planted in gardens, especially native plant gardens, wherea it is valued for the unusual sky-blue color of its flowers, its distinctive heart-shaped leaves with a slight bluish color, and its adaptability to a wide range of conditions, including its ability to bloom well in light shade.
↑Links & External Resources
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood Aster) | Illinois Wildflowers (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Common Blue Wood Aster) | USDA PLANTS Database (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium | Go Botany (About This Site)
• Common Blue Wood Aster | iNaturalist (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood Aster) | Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium | Biota of North America Project (BONAP) (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium | NatureServe Explorer (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium | Flora of North America (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium | Missouri Plants (About This Site)
• Common Blue Wood Aster | Maryland Biodiversity Project (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium (Blue Wood Aster) | Minnesota Wildflowers (About This Site)
• Symphyotrichum cordifolium (L.) Nesom (Heart-leaved Aster, Blue Wood Aster) | Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora (About This Site)
