Big-leaf aster
Leaves are firm, coarsely toothed, surfaces hairless to sparsely hairy and more densely hairy along major veins on the underside. Lowest leaves are large and heart-shaped, up to 8 inches long and 6 inches wide, on long stalks, becoming progressively smaller, more egg-shaped, and shorter stalked as they ascend the stem, with the uppermost leaves reduced to stalkless bracts. Flowering plants have basal leaves that wither away by flowering time; the basal leaves of non-flowering plants may persist longer.
Leaf stalks are narrowly to broadly winged, becoming more pronounced as leaves ascend the stem, the middle to upper leaves often with a pair of small lobes (auricles) at the base of the stalk that clasp the stem. Stems are erect, stiff, unbranched, hairless to sparsely hairy. Plants can create sizable, dense colonies from branching rhizomes.