States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaArkansasFloridaLouisianaMississippiVirginiaWest Virginia
Menu

Cottony Golden-aster

Chrysopsis gossypina

In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in longleaf pine sandhills, coastal dunes, Florida scrub, other dry sandy places. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you

73
Strong

Native to Mississippi (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 82%

Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to moist
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
September to October

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 8 Mississippi counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

16CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS

Genus host records with ranges including MS · Heterotheca

  • Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
  • Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
  • Epiblema scudderianaScudder's Epiblema, Goldenrod Gall Moth
  • Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
  • Heliocheilus paradoxusParadoxical Grass Moth
  • Pelochrista ridingsanaSnakeweed Borer
  • Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
  • Ponometia semiflavaHalf-Yellow Bird-Dropping Moth, Half-Yellow Moth
  • Schinia arcigeraArcigera Flower Moth
  • Schinia lynxLynx Flower Moth
Show all 16
  • Schinia nubilaCamphorweed Flower Moth
  • Schinia saturataBrown Flower Moth
  • Schinia sirenAluring Schinia Moth
  • Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
  • Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
  • Hellinsia chlorias
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
37BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Heterotheca

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
22Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Heterotheca

  • Andrena fulvipennis
  • Ashmeadiella bucconis
  • Colletes speculiferus
  • Colletes thysanellae
  • Dieunomia heteropoda
  • Dieunomia nevadensis
  • Hesperapis carinata
  • Melissodes coreopsis
  • Melissodes dentiventris
  • Melissodes desponsus
Show all 22
  • Melissodes druriellus
  • Melissodes menuachus
  • Perdita albipennis
  • Perdita bishoppi
  • Perdita boltoniae
  • Perdita consobrina
  • Perdita georgica
  • Perdita graenicheri
  • Perdita ignota
  • Perdita octomaculata
  • Perdita swenki
  • Perdita xanthismae
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
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Asteraceae
Flower color
Orange or yellow

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Cottony Golden aster; Heterotheca gossypina; golden aster; golden-aster

Conservation status

Mississippi rankSNR
Global rankG5
MS statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

Will it fit your yard?

Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.

Choose a county to begin.

How to check your spot

Sources