[3] It is native to much of western North America from British Columbia to Saskatchewan, the Sierra Nevada in California, the Rocky Mountains region, to Arizona and New Mexico, where it grows in many habitats, especially wet areas such as meadows and near ditches.

The thin leaves are up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) long, lance-shaped, and pointed at the tips.

Some of the leaves and the upper parts of the stem are hairy.

The fruit is a hairy cypsela that resembles an achene.

[4] As of June 2021,[update] Catalogue of Life, Flora of North America, and Jepson eFlora accepted this species as Symphyotrichum bracteolatum,[5][4][6] while POWO, NatureServe, and Canadian botanist John C. Semple circumscribed to S.