Symphyotrichum puniceum var. puniceum

General:
Perennial herb from a creeping rhizome or stem-base; stems erect, stiff-hairy, at least above, simple or branched above, usually reddish-purple, 0.5-1.5 m tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves few, soon deciduous; stem leaves lanceolate to oblong, 6-16 cm long, with clasping, ear-like flanges at the base, distantly toothed or rarely entire, scabrous to glabrous above, often hairy along the midrib below.

Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, few to more commonly many in a leafy inflorescence; involucres 6-12 mm tall; involucral bracts slender, loose, scarcely graduated, some of the outer sometimes leaflike but narrow; ray flowers 30-60, blue, rarely white or rose, 7-12 mm long; disk flowers yellow.

Fruits:
Achenes glabrous or nearly so; pappus white.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia