Southern Flat-top Aster
Doellingeria sericocarpoides
Found in peaty soils of sandhill ecotones and streamhead pocosins, other acidic seeps and swamps. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 5 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- July to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 16 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Who uses this plant?
5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Doellingeria
- Allagrapha aereaUnspotted Looper Moth
- Chlosyne nycteisSilvery Checkerspot
- Cucullia convexipennisBrown Hooded Owlet, Calico Paint
- Phyciodes tharosPearl Crescent, Crescentspot
- Carmenta corni
54BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Aster
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
25Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Aster
- Andrena asteris
- Andrena braccata
- Andrena chromotricha
- Andrena fulvipennis
- Andrena hirticincta
- Andrena nubecula
- Andrena placata
- Andrena simplex
- Ashmeadiella bucconis
- Colletes americanus
Show all 25
- Colletes compactus
- Colletes speculiferus
- Dianthidium curvatum
- Melissodes denticulatus
- Melissodes dentiventris
- Melissodes druriellus
- Melissodes illatus
- Melissodes niveus
- Melissodes subillatus
- Melissodes trinodis
- Melissodes wheeleri
- Paranthidium jugatorium
- Perdita octomaculata
- Protandrena citripes
- Protandrena compositarum
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Aster
- Alectoris chukarChukar
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Flower color
- White
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late July to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Aster umbellatus var. brevisquamus; Southern Flat top Aster; aster
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications