Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Purplestem aster
Symphyotrichum puniceum · includes its varieties and subspecies
Purplestem aster is recorded as native to 28 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 657 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Purplestem aster at a glance
- Native in
- 657 counties, across 28 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −35°F
- Mature height
- 8.1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −35°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Purplestem aster is recorded as native to 28 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 657 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 657 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- Georgia 14 counties
- Illinois 38 counties
- Indiana 42 counties
- Iowa 2 counties
- Louisiana 2 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Michigan 68 counties
- Minnesota 55 counties
- Mississippi 3 counties
- Missouri 7 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 13 counties
- New York 46 counties
- North Carolina 36 counties
- North Dakota 6 counties
- Ohio 47 counties
- Pennsylvania 65 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Carolina 5 counties
- South Dakota 2 counties
- Tennessee 11 counties
- Texas 8 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 64 counties
- West Virginia 21 counties
- Wisconsin 60 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (SYPUP). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 8.1 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 17 to 25 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −35°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Blue
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Fall
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SYPU
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 puniceum (PLANTS symbol SYPU), including 1 variety or 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