In late summer, masses of showy blue flower heads with yellow centers cover this common, erect, 2–4-foot tall bushy plant. Note that sticky glands cover the flower stems (peduncles) but not the leaves, and the mid-spem leaves clasp the stem.

FLOWERS: July–September. Composite with 20–60 blue to purple ray flowers, 3/8–1-inch long (10–25 mm) and orange-yellow disk flowers; phyllaries (below flower) with pointed tips spreading or curled back, upper 1/2 green (not just tips as in D. canescens), generally covered with sticky glands.

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades stemless (sessile), lance-shaped with pointed to rounded tips; mid-stem leaves 3/4–3 inches long (20–80 mm) by 3/16–5/8-inch wide (5–15 mm), margins entire or with small teeth tipped with spines. Note the mid-stem leaves clasp the stem, and do not have sticky glands.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils, meadows, openings, roadsides; pinyon-juniper, spruce-pine, fir-aspen forests.

ELEVATION: 4,800–12,000 feet.

RANGE: Western U. S.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Another mid- to higher-elevation species in the same range, Shaggy-cup Tansyaster, D. asteroides, has sticky glands on leaves, flower stem, and phyllaries, mid-stem leaves 1/4–3/4-inch wide (6–20 mm), and ray flowers 3/8–3/4-inch long (10–20 mm). The look-alike Purple Aster, D. canescens, tends grow in dryer, lower habitats (3,400–9,000 feet), with phyllaries without sticky glands and mid-stem leaves not clasping.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread in western 2/3rds of NM in mid- to high-elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Los Alamos, Lincoln, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, Valencia.