Symphyotrichum chilense

This perennial grows to 1-3 ft tall and makes a flower bed come alive in late summer through fall, when planted with California fuchsia and California goldenrod. It spreads by rhizomes, likes moist soil but can also go without summer water, and is common on coastal grasslands and marshes. Make sure to prune plant to the ground after flowering in the fall and it will reappear late winter. A good habitat plant, native moths and butterflies use this plant as a nectar source and birds eat the seeds. Native to California and is found only slightly beyond California borders. Good nectar source for these butterflies: Orange Sulphur, Mormon Metalmark, Field Crescent, Monarch, Sandhill Skipper, Common Buckeye, skippers, West Coast Lady, Mylitta Crescent. No Historical Uses found. Found in dry, sunny, grassy slopes, valley floors, streambanks; & disturbed places like fields; in alluvial formations. Communitites located in Yellow Pine Forest, Chaparral, Valley Grassland, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Foothill Woodland, Freshwater Wetlands, Wetland-riparian Between 0 and 4500 feet.