Creeping Aster
Eurybia surculosa
Found in rock outcrops, glades, rocky woodlands. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- August to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 8 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 73 animals.
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
- Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
- Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolor
- White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
- Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Eurybia
- Schinia septentrionalisNorthern Flower Moth
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
27Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Eurybia
- Andrena asteris
- Andrena braccata
- Andrena canadensis
- Andrena chromotricha
- Andrena fulvipennis
- Andrena hirticincta
- Andrena nubecula
- Andrena placata
- Andrena simplex
- Ashmeadiella bucconis
Show all 27
- Colletes americanus
- 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 andrenoides
- 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
- Blue or purple
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late August to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Aster surculosus; Creeping Wood Aster; aster
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4G5 |
| 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)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- 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