GrowNativePlants Plant Directory

Western Meadow Aster

Symphyotrichum campestre

KeystoneLarval hostBird foodPollinator plant

Western Meadow Aster

(c) Martin Purdy, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Martin Purdy

Growing it

When
JFMAMJJASONDFlowers August to October; fruits September to OctoberFlowers August to October; fruits September to October
Typewildflower
SunFull sun
WaterLow
SoilpH 6–8
Hardinesszone 3–8
Mature height0.5 m
Mature spread0.675 m
Spacing0.45 m
Years to maturity2
BloomAug–Oct
Flower colourPurple not verified, a genus-level estimate
In bloomAugust September October
FruitSep–Oct
Native toAB

lance-shaped leaves about 8 cm long

Where it has been recorded

EdmontonCalgaryFort McMurrayGrande PrairieLethbridgeSaskatoonReginaPrince AlbertABSKBCMBrecords per square12-45-1920-99100+
4 squares of about 28 km, each holding at least one record. A square is not a claim that the plant grows throughout it, and an unshaded square is unrecorded rather than empty. Darker squares hold more records, which follows roads and towns as much as it follows the plant. 4 herbarium specimens this project may redraw. A filled dot is a pressed sheet somebody can re-examine; a hollow ring is a photograph identified by community agreement. Where the dots are dense is where people have looked, not where the plant is commonest, and empty ground is unsurveyed rather than unoccupied. How this map is made.

Which ecoregions the records fall in

Mixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedMixed Grassland (south AB / SK), recordedEdmontonCalgaryFort McMurrayGrande PrairieLethbridgeSaskatoonReginaPrince AlbertABSKBCMBMixed Grassland
  • Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: from the catalogue's regional tag, not from occurrence records
  • Prairies : from the catalogue's regional tag, not from occurrence records

These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.

See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.

Documented animals

1 documented relationships.

nectar for

Also worth knowing

Safety

Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety

Buying it

About $8–$16 per plant (estimate), usually stocked by garden centres. Estimate (herb default); AB retail as of 2026

Where these numbers came from

  • Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate