Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Hairy white oldfield aster
Symphyotrichum pilosum · includes its varieties and subspecies
Hairy white oldfield aster is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,206 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Hairy white oldfield aster at a glance
- Native in
- 1,206 counties, across 35 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Hairy white oldfield aster is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,206 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,206 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 6 counties
- Arkansas 60 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 11 counties
- Georgia 35 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 71 counties
- Iowa 7 counties
- Kansas 28 counties
- Kentucky 62 counties
- Maine 8 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 52 counties
- Minnesota 4 counties
- Mississippi 67 counties
- Missouri 93 counties
- Nebraska 6 counties
- New Hampshire 4 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 37 counties
- North Carolina 83 counties
- Ohio 76 counties
- Oklahoma 5 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 41 counties
- South Dakota 1 county
- Tennessee 51 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 97 counties
- West Virginia 36 counties
- Wisconsin 44 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (SYPIP3). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- 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
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 28 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 5.4 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- 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
- SYPI2
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 pilosum (PLANTS symbol SYPI2), 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