Flower: 15-30 small, white petals. Perennial from a branched caudex. Disk flowers - Disk 5-8mm broad. White Heath Aster; Previously known as: Symphyotrichum ericoides; Phonetic Spelling ASS-ter er-ik-OY-dees Description. White heath aster is a hardy perennial with an extensive root system of rhizomes and stolons. Style exserted, yellowish at the apex, bifurcate. This bushy plant grows to be 0.5 to 1 m tall and can have a 30 cm spread. Corolla tube sparsely pubescent externally, glabrous internally. It has white (rarely pinkish), composite flowerheads with yellow centers that begin flowering in late summer through fall. Butterflies flock to it masses of tiny flowers for nectar. Habitat: Dry prairies, fields, roadsides. Description. It forms ground-covering colonies with woody stems that persist over the winter. Stigmas 1mm long. Description: This is a low-growing aster with narrow leaves and small white, daisy-like flowers with thin petals. White oldfield aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum), formerly Aster pilosus, a herbaceous perennial of the Aster (Asteraceae) family, occurs from Texas to South Dakota and Minnesota thence to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Other Names: White Aster, Heath Aster, White Prairie Aster, Life Cycle: Perennial Description: This is a perennial plant which can grow to as much as 5 feet tall.The basal leaves are lanceolate and the upper leaves are linear. It is filled with butterflies (Monarch), bees, wasps, moths, and flies. In Arkansas, this aster occurs statewide and is one of 22 species of aster (Symphyotrichum) konwn to occur in the state.. Habitats for this aster include old fields, open … The stems are erect and the plant produces abundant flowers (white petals with yellow centers) from August through November. Narrow grey-green foliage is an important larval butterfly food. At the time of flowering, most leaves drop except for those directly beneath the flower head. A bushy, somewhat compact plant with many-branched stems which typically grows 1' to 3' tall. Stems ascending to erect, sometimes branched, 20–70 cm, often clustered. It can lower the forage quality of prairie hay. Leaves are narrow (1cm wide) and linear (7 cm long), resembling the leaves of heather. Economic: White heath aster is economically valuable as an ornamental. The name aster I from the Greek for "star". Heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides syn. It is from 1-3 ft tall. Ligules white, to 1cm long, 1-2mm broad, minutely notched at the apex (use a lens to see), glabrous. White petals with yellow center disk. Its leaves are sessile (stalkless) and narrow, becoming smaller towards the top of the plant and tips of the branching stem. Herbage strigose to pubescent. Symphyotrichum ericoides, commonly called heath aster, is a Missouri native plant that typically occurs in open rocky woods, prairies and along roads and railroads. Heath aster is an herbaceous perennial with stems from 1 to 3 ft (0.3 to 0.9 m) tall. Site: Dry, open sites. Aster ericoides) is a hardy perennial with fuzzy stems and masses of tiny, daisy-like, white aster flowers, each with a yellow eye.Growing heath aster isn’t difficult, as the plant tolerates a variety of conditions, including drought, rocky, sandy or clay soil and badly eroded areas. Easy to grow, this tolerant perennial thrives as a groundcover in dry conditions. These are in a wet area near a brook. The flower head is 1/2 inch wide. Livestock and forage: Livestock will not consume white heath aster. See this plant in the following landscape: Cultivars / Varieties: Leaves cauline, linear, sessile, entire, 1–5 cm long, often with fascicles or short branches in the axils, the lowest deciduous. Foliage: Numerous tiny, rigid, heath-like leaves. 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