Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Late purple aster
Symphyotrichum patens · includes its varieties and subspecies
Late purple aster is recorded as native to 29 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 774 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Late purple aster at a glance
- Native in
- 774 counties, across 29 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 2.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium 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.
Late purple aster is recorded as native to 29 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 774 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 774 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 36 counties
- Arkansas 54 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 5 counties
- Georgia 24 counties
- Illinois 22 counties
- Indiana 14 counties
- Kansas 10 counties
- Kentucky 45 counties
- Louisiana 37 counties
- Maine 1 county
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Mississippi 55 counties
- Missouri 69 counties
- New Hampshire 2 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 18 counties
- North Carolina 58 counties
- Ohio 2 counties
- Oklahoma 26 counties
- Pennsylvania 40 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 27 counties
- Tennessee 52 counties
- Texas 56 counties
- Virginia 69 counties
- West Virginia 15 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (SYPAP2). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.9 to 6.9
- 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
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SYPA11
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 patens (PLANTS symbol SYPA11), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- 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