Early Whitetop Fleabane
Erigeron vernus
Found in wet pine savannas, seepages, interdunal swales. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 20 inches
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- March to June
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 64 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Who uses this plant?
25CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Erigeron
- Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
- Bucculatrix angustataNarrow Bucculatrix
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Chlosyne nycteisSilvery Checkerspot
- Ctenoplusia oxygrammaSharp-Stigma Looper Moth
- Cucullia alfarataCamphorweed Cucullia, Halloween Paint, Camphorweed Cucullia
- Eugnosta erigeronanaFleabane Cochylid
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
Show all 25
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Leuconycta diphteroidesGreen Leuconycta
- Lioptilodes albistriolatusMousy Plume Moth
- Phyciodes tharosPearl Crescent, Crescentspot
- Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
- Schinia arcigeraArcigera Flower Moth
- Schinia lynxLynx Flower Moth
- Schinia obscurataObscure Schinia Moth, Erigeron Flower Moth
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Hellinsia chlorias
- Xenotemna pallorana
74BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Erigeron
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
9Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Erigeron
- Andrena asteris
- Andrena fulvipennis
- Andrena nubecula
- Andrena simplex
- Colletes americanus
- Colletes simulans
- Melissodes illatus
- Perdita boltoniae
- Protandrena aestivalis
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Erigeron
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
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 or yellow
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late March to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White or yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 20 inches” · 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
- Soil · “Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL 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
- Atlas of Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (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