Symphyotrichum chilense (Nees) G.L. Nesom var. invenustum (Greene) G.L. Nesom

vernacular Pacific aster — variety · Asteraceae

USDA: SYCHI
GBIF: 3151392 syn.
Rank: variety

Pacific aster (Symphyotrichum chilense var. invenustum) — Platephotograph · Ken-ichi UedaCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus: Symphyotrichum

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 6 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 6 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: High
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 90 min.
Precipitation: 10–40 in/yr
pH range: 6–7.5
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Crown
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 3 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Summer
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 700,000
Propagation: seed, bare root, sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 6 counties across 1 state.

California view state ↗ 6 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SYCHI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3151392 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T16:37:38Z