The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Symphyotrichum puniceum
Also called Bog Aster, Bristly Aster, Swamp Aster, Glossy Leaf Aster, Purple Stem Aster, Red Stalk Aster, Purple Stemmed Aster
Purplestem aster is a native North American perennial wildflower of wet meadows, swamps and stream edges, grown for its late-summer violet to purple daisy flowers. It does best kept consistently moist in a sunny spot.
Symphyotrichum puniceum (formerly Aster puniceus), is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern North America. It is commonly known as purplestem aster, red-stalk aster, red-stemmed aster, red-stem aster, and swamp aster. It also has been called early purple aster, cocash, swanweed, and meadow scabish.
Its range extends from the edges of the Great Plains to the Atlantic coast, and from the Gulf coast of Texas north to southern Ungava Bay in the north of Quebec. It is adventive in Europe.
Symphyotrichum puniceum has been used for medicinal purposes among indigenous people in North America. It has been documented that the Chippewa have smoked the root with tobacco to attract game. Multiple uses have been reported for the Woodland Cree, including as an aid for tooth pain and for healing a woman after childbirth. The Iroquois have used the roots for healing of various ailments including colds, fevers, pneumonia, typhoid, and tuberculosis.
Scaleleaf aster · Manyray aster · Anticosti Island aster · Western aster · Symphyotrichum bimater · Northern bog aster · Symphyotrichum bullatum · Symphyotrichum burgessii · Western meadow aster · Carneros Aster · Savanna aster · Symphyotrichum chihuahuense
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Symphyotrichum puniceum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
