Flat-topped white aster
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.
Scientific name: Doellingeria umbellata var umbellata (P. Mill.) Nees; old Aster umbellatus P. Mill.
Common name(s): flat-topped white aster, flat-top white aster, parasol whitetop, tall white-aster
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- early flower, late July
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- in flower, mid-August
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- top of leaves
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- underside of leaves
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- flower arrangement
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- flower disks are yellow when young
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- flower disks fade to gray with age
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- in pruned field, late August
Description:
– perennial
– generally flowers late July-September in ME
-height
- 2-7 feet
– although absent in ME, elsewhere in New England may be confused with two rare species, D. infirma and Oligoneuron album; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-roadsides
-fields
-wetlands
- marshes
- swamps
Source(s):
Heinrich, B. 1976. Flowering phenologies: Bog, woodland, and disturbed habitats. Ecology. 57(5):890-899.
Nelson, Andrew, et al. “Doellingeria Umbellata Var. Umbellata.” Doellingeria Umbellata Var. Umbellata – Species Page – NYFA: New York Flora Atlas, New York Flora Association, USF Water Institute. University of South Florida, 2020, newyork.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=424.