Symphyotrichum is a genus of about 90 species of herbaceous annual and perennial plants in the composite family that were treated within the genus Aster. The majority are endemic to North America, but several species occur in the West Indies and South America, as well as in eastern Eurasia. Many species have been introduced to Europe as garden specimens, most notably the New England aster and the New York aster; the botanist Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck established this genus in 1833 because he felt that a plant he examined, now thought to be a cultivated variety of New York aster, was sufficiently distinct from the rest of the genus Aster to warrant its own genus. He emphasized the uniqueness of this plant in having its pappus hairs arranged in a coherent, basal ring; this structure is the basis for the scientific name of this genus, which derives from Ancient Greek σύμφυσις "growing together" and θρίξ "hair". This characteristic ring is not shared by most New York aster pappi, nor is it characteristic of any other plants included in the modern concept of Symphyotrichum.

According to the rules of the ICN, the timing of this genus's establishment gives it precedence over other names. This genus was resurrected in 1994 by Guy Nesom to group together species included in Aster in order to make modern genera monophyletic. There are about 90 species, including: Symphyotrichum ascendens G. L. Nesom – western aster, longleaf aster, intermountain aster Symphyotrichum campestre G. L. Nesom – western meadow aster Symphyotrichum chilense G. L. Nesom – Pacific aster, common California aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium G. L. Nesom – heartleaf aster, common blue wood aster Symphyotrichum defoliatum G. L. Nesom – San Bernardino aster Symphyotrichum depauperatum G. L. Nesom – serpentine aster Symphyotrichum dumosum G. L. Nesom – bushy aster, rice-button aster, Symphyotrichum eatonii G. L. Nesom – Eaton's aster Symphyotrichum ericoides G. L. Nesom – white aster, heath aster Symphyotrichum falcatum G. L. Nesom – white prairie aster, falcate aster, western heath aster Symphyotrichum frondosum G.

L. Nesom – short-rayed alkali aster Symphyotrichum georgianum G. L. Nesom – Georgia aster Symphyotrichum greatae G. L. Nesom – Greata's aster Symphyotrichum hallii – Hall's aster Symphyotrichum laeve Á. Löve & D. Löve – smooth aster, smooth leaved aster, glaucous aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum G. L. Nesom – panicled aster, tall white aster Symphyotrichum lateriflorum Á. Löve & D. Löve – calico aster Symphyotrichum lentum G. L. Nesom – Suisun Marsh aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae G. L. Nesom – New England aster Symphyotrichum novi-belgii G. L. Nesom – New York aster Symphyotrichum oblongifolium G. L. Nesom – aromatic aster Symphyotrichum oolentangiense G. L. Nesom – sky-blue aster, azure aster Symphyotrichum pilosum G. L. Nesom – hairy aster, frost aster Symphyotrichum prenanthoides G. L. Nesom – crooked-stem aster Symphyotrichum puniceum Á. Löve & D. Löve – purplestem aster, red-stemmed aster, swamp aster Symphyotrichum sericeum G. L. Nesom – western silver aster, silky aster Symphyotrichum shortii G. L. Nesom – Short's aster Symphyotrichum subulatum G.

L. Nesom – eastern annual saltmarsh aster

Gregory Stephen "Greg" Smith, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair rugby player who won three gold medals in athletics at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, a gold medal in wheelchair rugby at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where he was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Smith was born on 19 August 1967 in the Victorian city of Ballarat, he broke his neck in a car accident in 1987 while he was a physical training instructor with the Australian Army. The accident left him with little movement from the chest down, he went through one and a half years of gruelling rehabilitation but his life became active again in 1988 after another patient lent him a racing wheelchair. Smith won a gold medal in the men's 4x100 m T1 at the World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen, Netherlands, he began his long Paralympic career with a silver medal in the men's 4x100 m relay TW1–2, bronze medals in the men's marathon TW2 and the men's 4x400 m relay TW1–2 at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

He competed in the men's 800 m, 1500 m and 5000 m TW2 events. In 1992, he held a scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport in athletics; that year, he finished fourth in the 10 km road race at the 1992 Oz Day race. In 1995, he was awarded an Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability non-residential scholarship which he held until 2000. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, Smith won a silver medal in the men's 5000 m T51, he competed in the men's 400 m, 1500 m and marathon in T51 events. Smith won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Games in the men's 800 m T52, men's 1500 m T52 and men's 5000 m T52 events, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia, he competed in the men's marathon T52. At the 1998 IPC Athletics World Championships in Berlin, he won four gold medals in the men's 800 m, men's 1500 m, men's 5000 m and the men's marathon. Smith retired from wheelchair athletics in 2002. After a two-year break, he took up wheelchair rugby and at the end of his first season he won the New South Wales State League Most Valuable Player Award and the National League Best New Talent.

In 2006, he represented Australia for the first time in wheelchair rugby at the Canada Cup International Tournament. He was a member of the Australian mixed team that won the silver medal in wheelchair rugby at the 2008 Beijing Games. After Beijing, he continued as an assistant coach, he came out of retirement in 2010 and was re-selected to the Australian squad in 2011. He was the Australian flag bearer at the 2012 London Games, was part of the team that won the gold medal, he still has an active interest in the sport. At the 2018 World Championships in Sydney, he was the Assistant Coach of the Australian team that won the silver medal after being defeated by Japan 61-62 in the gold medal game. OAM, 2001 Australian Team Flag Bearer at 2012 Summer Paralympics Honorary Doctorate, University of Ballarat, 2013 Greg Smith at Australian Athletics Historical Results