Symphyotrichum lanceolatum var. lanceolatum

Symphyotrichum lanceolatum (Willd.) Nesom var. lanceolatum is is the northernmost variety of the species, reaching the southern boreal region from Alberta to central Quebec and Newfoundland and south to Virginia in the east and to the edge of the prairies south to Texas. It is most variable morphologically and cytologically: Leaf blades linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate (reduced in arrays), margins entire; involucres 3.6–4.8 mm; phyllaries: outer 1.7–4 × 0.3–0.7 mm; ray florets 17–47, corollas white to purplish or bluish, laminae 3.2–8 mm; disc florets 16–38; 2n = 32, 40, 48, 56, 64. The variety (and probably the others as well) is reported to hybridize with Symphyotrichum boreale, S. laeve, S. lateriflorum, S. pilosum, S. racemosum, and S. puniceum.