PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Aster, CRP Practices, Fall Foliage, Meadow Gardening, Native Bees, Pollinator, U.S. Native, Xeriscape

White Upland Aster, formerly under Aster ptarmicoides, is a perennial that is native to eastern Canada as well as the northeastern and north-central United States. Plants are typically found in dry, calcareous prairies, open woods, bluffs and sandy sites. The small white flowers appear at the ends of stiff branches in late summer. Drought tolerant.

Culture

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 3-8. Prefers full sun and dry sandy or gravelly calcareous soils. Tolerates some light shade. Drought tolerant. Tolerates moist loams as long as well-drained. Removal of flower heads prior to ripening of seed, if practicable, will help prevent seed dispersal. Stems may be cut to the ground in late fall.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Solidago ptarmicoides, commonly known as upland white goldenrod or upland white aster, is an herbaceous perennial that typically grows to 12-24” tall. It is native to dry, sandy, usually calcareous soils, cracks in rocks, limestone pavements, rocky outcrops, grassy slopes and prairies from Quebec to Saskatchewan south to Georgia, Arkansas, and Colorado.

This plant was originally classified as Aster ptarmicoides, but was subsequently reclassified as Solidago ptarmicoides. Notwithstanding its aster-like white ray petals (most goldenrods have yellow ray petals), this plant has goldenrod-like foliage and is known to hybridize in the wild with other goldenrods but not with other asters.

After flowering, seed heads containing small clusters of seed with white fluff form (goldfinches love to eat the seed). Harvest promptly if seed is to be saved.

Narrow pointed green leaves have smooth or rough textures. Lower leaves (to 7” long) are lanceolate-oval and stalked. Upper leaves are smaller, narrower, and widely spaced, eventually becoming stalkless near the top. Daisy-like flowers in open, flat-topped, corymbiform clusters (each cluster typically having 3 to 25 but sometimes as many as 50 flowers) bloom late summer to fall. Each flower has between 10-20 white rays and creamy white to pale yellow center disks. This is a low mounded plant with narrow, 6-8” long, pointed, lanceolate leaves, and flat clusters of 1/2” daisy-like flowers having white rays and white to pale yellow center disks. Flowers bloom August – October.

Genus name comes from the Latin words solidus meaning whole and ago meaning to make in reference to the medicinal healing properties of some species plants.

Specific epithet means causes sneezing as memorialized by the sometimes used common name of sneezewort aster for this species.

Uses