General:
Biennial or short-lived perennial herb with a short, simple stem-base, rarely annual; stems erect, usually solitary, branched above, more or less hairy with long, spreading hairs, occasionally nearly glabrous, 20-70 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves broadly oblanceolate to egg-shaped, coarsely round-toothed or lobed, rounded at the tips, hairy like the stems, narrowly tapering to a short stalk, 15-30 cm long, 1.5-12 cm wide; stem leaves similar, becoming reduced and unstalked upwards, clasping at the base, round- to sharp-toothed.

Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, 1 to many in an open inflorescence, the disks 6-15 mm wide; involucres 4-6 mm tall; involucral bracts more or less stiff-hairy with flattened hairs or sometimes nearly glabrous, tapering to a slender tip, equal, light greenish or brownish with the translucent margins occasionally purplish; ray flowers numerous, about 150, deep pink to reddish-purple or white, 5-10 mm long, 0.2-0.6 mm wide; disk flowers 2.5-3.2 mm long.

Fruits:
Achenes 2-nerved, sparsely hairy; pappus of 20-30 bristles, often shorter than the disk flowers.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Erigeron philadelphicus var. glaber Henry
Erigeron philadelphicus var. scaturicola (Fernald) Fernald
Erigeron purpureus Aiton