Aster patens Aiton var. gracilis Hooker, Compan. Bot. Mag. 1: 97. 1835; A. patens var. tenuicaulis C. Mohr; A. tenuicaulis (C. Mohr) E. S. Burgess; Virgulus patens (Aiton) Reveal & Keener var. gracilis (Hooker) Reveal & Keener

Plants slender (long-branched). Involucres campanulate, 5.5–6.5 mm. Phyllaries in 4–5 series, squarrose, acute to acuminate, densely strigillose, sparsely stipitate-glandular; mid 0.7–1 mm wide. 2n = 10, 20.

Flowering late Aug–early Nov. Dry oak-pine and oak-hickory woodlands; 0–800+ m; Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., Kans., La., Md., Miss., Mo., N.C., Okla., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va.

Variety gracile is most common in the southwestern part of the species range, in the western Coastal Plains and Central Lowland, and is infrequent to the east. It is mostly diploid, some tetraploids occurring in Texas and Louisiana.