Doellingeria sericocarpoides Small. Common name: Pocosin Flat-topped Aster, Southern Flat-topped Aster, Southern Tall Flat-topped Aster. Phenology: Late Jul-Oct. Habitat: Peaty soils of sandhill ecotones and streamhead pocosins, other acidic seeps and swamps. Distribution: Sc. NC south to ne. FL and Panhandle FL, west to MS and se. LA; also in the West Gulf Coastal Plain of w. LA, AR, se. OK, and e. TX; disjunct in w. SC in the uppermost Piedmont in the Blue Ridge Escarpment region. Material north of sc. NC treated by Fernald as Aster umbellatus var. brevisquamus is closer to Doellingeria umbellatus var. umbellatus, but may warrant varietal recognition under that species.
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Taxonomy Comments: See discussion in Sorrie (2022) for the identity and distribution of D. sericocarpoides.
Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, Fl7, FNA20, K1, K3, K4, WH3, Nesom (1993d), Sorrie (2022) in Weakley et al (2022); = Aster sericocarpoides (Small) K.Schum. – SE1, Semple, Chmielewski, & Leeder (1991); = Aster umbellatus Mill. var. brevisquamus Fernald – RAB, misapplied; < Aster umbellatus Mill. var. latifolius A.Gray – GW2, Tx; > Doellingeria humilis (Willd.) Britton – S, misapplied; > Doellingeria sericocarpoides Small – S, by implication
Links to other floras: = Doellingeria sericocarpoides - FNA20
Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
- Great Plains: FACW
- Northcentral & Northeast: FACW
Heliophily ⓘ: 8
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Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect to ascending perennial of peaty soils in sandhill ecotones and streamhead pocosins, and in other acidic seeps and swamps.
Stems: Stems 1-a few from a root crown (not creeping-rhizomatous as in D. umbellata), branching above, sometimes reddish or brownish, smooth.
Leaves: Leaves alternate, short-petiolate, elliptic to broadly lance-shaped, 1 1/2-4 1/4 in. long, stiff.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Composite flowers (heads) in branched, mostly flat-topped terminal cluster; heads about 1 in. wide, consisting of 2-7 white ray florets encircling a center disk of 4-14 yellow (turning purplish) tubular florets.
Fruits:
Comments:
Height: 3-6 ft.
plant sale text: Southern flat-topped aster is a tall, fall-blooming aster native to boggy streamheads and seepage slopes in the southeastern and Atlantic Coastal Plain. Its numerous white flower heads, arranged in a flat, branched inflorescence, provide an autumnal source of pollen and nectar for pollinators, and birds eat its seeds. This aster grows best in moist soils.
bloom table text:
description: Erect to ascending perennial of peaty soils in sandhill ecotones and streamhead pocosins, and in other acidic seeps and swamps.
stems: Stems 1-a few from a root crown (not creeping-rhizomatous as in D. umbellata), branching above, sometimes reddish or brownish, smooth.
leaves: Leaves alternate, short-petiolate, elliptic to broadly lance-shaped, 1 1/2-4 1/4 in. long, stiff.
inflorescence:
flowers: Composite flowers (heads) in branched, mostly flat-topped terminal cluster; heads about 1 in. wide, consisting of 2-7 white ray florets encircling a center disk of 4-14 yellow (turning purplish) tubular florets.
fruits:
comments:
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range: Southeastern United States