Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Common blue wood aster
Symphyotrichum cordifolium
Common blue wood aster is recorded as native to 26 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 894 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common blue wood aster at a glance
- Native in
- 894 counties, across 26 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Common blue wood aster is recorded as native to 26 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 894 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 894 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 4 counties
- Arkansas 51 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 21 counties
- Illinois 76 counties
- Indiana 76 counties
- Iowa 14 counties
- Kentucky 69 counties
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Michigan 65 counties
- Minnesota 23 counties
- Missouri 59 counties
- Nebraska 6 counties
- New Jersey 15 counties
- New York 49 counties
- North Carolina 36 counties
- Ohio 72 counties
- Pennsylvania 54 counties
- South Carolina 4 counties
- South Dakota 3 counties
- Tennessee 41 counties
- Vermont 2 counties
- Virginia 61 counties
- West Virginia 17 counties
- Wisconsin 63 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 5.7 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Gray-Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Contracting Only
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SYCO4
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Symphyotrichum cordifolium (PLANTS symbol SYCO4).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources