Aster fastigiatus Fischer, Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 3: 74. 1812; A. flabellum Vaniot; A. micranthus Vaniot & H. Léveillé; A. micranthus var. achilleiformis H. Léveillé; Kalimeris japonica Schultz Bipontinus.

Herbs, perennial. Stems erect, 30-80(-100) cm tall, glabrous below, sparsely strigose to densely strigose-tomentose upward. Lower leaves withered at anthesis, shortly petiolate, blade linear-lanceolate, 3-12 × 0.3-1.5 cm, abaxially gray-green, densely strigose-tomentulose, densely glandular, 3-veined, veins prominent, adaxially glabrous, base cuneate, margin entire, revolute, scabrous, apex acuminate; mid and upper gradually reduced upward, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate. Capitula small, 5-7 mm, numerous in terminal, dense, corymbiform synflorescences; peduncles slender; bracts 2 or 3, sometimes grading into phyllaries. Involucre cylindric-campanulate or campanulate; phyllaries: outer series oblong, 1-1.5 mm, ± densely puberulent, apex obtuse, inner oblanceolate-oblong, green at apex and along midrib. Ray florets tube 1-2 mm, lamina narrowly oblong to narrowly elliptic, 2-3.5 × 1-1.5 mm; disk florets 3-4 mm, tube 1-1.5 mm, limb 1-3 mm, lobes recurved. Achenes straw-colored to reddish, oblong, ca. 1 mm, densely strigose, glabrescent. Pappus 2-3 mm, equaling or shorter than disk corolla. Fl. and fr. Aug-Oct.

Dry slopes, moist grassy meadows on riverbanks, roadsides; near sea level to 500 m. Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia (Far East)].