Aster glaucodes var. formosus (Greene) Kittell; Eucephalus formosus Greene

Plants 20–70 cm, eglandular. Stems 1–7+, glabrous proximally, sometimes thinly scabridulous distally. Leaf blades oblong or elliptic-oblong to lanceolate (sometimes narrowly), 40–120 × 5–25 mm, faces glabrous. Heads 2–116+. Peduncles glabrous or sometimes thinly scabridulous or villosulous; bracts 0–2, foliaceous, margins villoso-ciliate or glabrous. Involucres campanulate, 6–9 mm. Phyllaries 15–35, glabrous. Ray florets (8–)10–15(–19); laminae 8–18 × 0.7–1.3 mm. Disc florets 12–32; corollas 6.8–7.5 mm, lobes 0.7–1.3 mm. 2n = 18.

Flowering summer–fall. Open, rocky slopes, often on calcareous substrates, saline seeps at lower elevations, in sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, and hanging gardens communities; 800–3700 m; Ariz., Colo., Idaho, Mont., N.Mex., Utah, Wyo.