Symphyotrichum ericoides (Heath Aster)

Plant Info

Also known as:	White Heath Aster
Genus:	Symphyotrichum
Family:	Asteraceae (Aster)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	native
Habitat:	sun; dry fields, prairies
Bloom season:	summer to fall
Plant height:	1 to 3 feet
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Long Lake Regional Park Rice Creek Trail Corridor Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park

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Detailed Information

Flower:

Clusters of daisy type flowers 1/3 to ½ inch across with 8 to 20 white petals (ray flowers) and yellow center disk flowers that turn reddish with age. The clusters are variable and may have only a few flowers but are more often tightly packed like a cylindrical spike. The flowers can also grow on only 1 side of a stem.

The bracts are whitish at the base, narrow with blunt tips and usually fold back away from the base of the flower but may be pressed flat.

Leaves:

Leaves are up to 2 inches long and less than ¼ inch wide, with pointed tips and no leaf stem; there may be smaller leaves clustered in the axils. Leaves near the base of the plant usually wither away by the time the plant flowers; those on branching stems are usually much smaller than on the main stem—near the flowers they are very short and more crowded on the stem (see photo of bracts above). The main stem is brown and woody, usually somewhat hairy.

Notes:

Heath Aster can grow erect or become bushy. There are a number of white daisy type flowers that bloom in late summer and fall, some of which may have densely packed clusters like Heath Aster. Heath Aster is most easily distinguished by smaller than average flowers and the narrow leaves, especially the short leaves near the flowers.

More photos

• Heath Aster plant, near 30 inches tall
• more plants

Photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN and Rice Creek Trail Corridor, Shoreview, MN, September 2008 and 2009

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