Basionym Symphyotrichum racemosum (formerly Aster racemosus) is a species of flowering plant native to parts of the United States and introduced in Canada.

[3] Symphyotrichum racemosum is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches 30–90 centimeters (12–35 inches) (rarely to 100 cm (39 in)).

It can grow in clumps with woody caudices or form colonies if its root system has developed long rhizomes.

[5] The alternate and simple leaves[5] of Symphyotrichum racemosum are thin, slightly rough to the touch (scabrous), and their edges are rolled downward (called revolute).

Basal (bottom) and proximal cauline (stem) leaves are usually withering by the time the plant is flowering.

[3] Symphyotrichum racemosum is a late-summer and fall blooming perennial, with flower heads opening as early as August and as late as October.

[6] Each flower head is about 13 millimeters (1⁄2 inch) in diameter[6] and has its own slender peduncle which can be anywhere from 2 mm to over 3 cm long.

Ray florets in the Symphyotrichum genus are exclusively female, each having a pistil (with style, stigma, and ovary), but no stamen.

[7] The disks have 10–20 (sometimes as many as 25) florets that start out as cream or pale yellow and once opened, may turn pink or red after pollination.

[3] Each disk floret is made up of 5 petals, collectively a corolla,[7] which open into 5 lanceolate lobes that are recurved to upright.

[3] Disk florets in the Symphyotrichum genus are androgynous, each with both male (stamen, anthers, and filaments) and female reproductive parts.

[8] After pollination, they mature and become gray or tan with an obovoid shape (like an egg), 1–1.8 mm long with 4–5 faint nerves, and sparsely strigillose (with a few stiff, slender bristles) or sericeous (silky-looking) on their surface.