General:
Perennial herb from a slender rhizome; stems few to several, ascending to erect, sparsely to copiously short-hairy, often purple, branched above, 10-70 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves soon deciduous; stem leaves largest below, broadly oblanceolate or spoon-shaped, tapering to the unstalked or stalked base, 4-13 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, the middle and uppermost more gradually reduced and broader in shape, sparsely to copiously short-hairy on the lower surfaces, mostly sharply saw-toothed or toothed except at the base.

Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, few to more often numerous in a mostly short and flat-topped inflorescence; involucres 6-9 mm tall; involucral bracts graduated in several series, the outer oblong, the inner linear, usually abruptly sharp-pointed, stiff-hairy on the back with a strong midrib, evidently to obscurely green-tipped, often strongly purple-margined; ray flowers 10-15, white to pale violet, 8-12 mm long; disk flowers yellow, 7-8 mm long, the tube longer than the slender limb.

Fruits:
Achenes smooth, sparsely stiff-hairy; pappus tawny.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Aster eliasii A. Nelson
Aster radulinus A. Gray
Weberaster radulinus (A. Gray) A. L÷ve & D. L÷ve