Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Sericocarpus linifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Test-drive A Teaching Key to Asters.
Read more about Narrowleaf Whitetop Aster at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sericocarpus linifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Sericocarpus linifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-002:
Aster solidagineus FAMILY Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sericocarpus linifolius
COMMON NAME:
Narrowleaf Whitetop Aster, Slender Whitetop Aster
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_seli5_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm220412_6734
April Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm120506_681
May Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120525_353
May Oconee County SC
Leaves sessile, linear to narrowly elliptic, not differing very much in size, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmslinifolius_nt2
May
)
Dan Whitten sdw_053121_mystery1
May Greenville County SC
Chandler Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm0506i_08
June Oconee County SC
Flowers in densely-flowered flat-topped inflorescences, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm140614_933b
June Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm140614_937940
June Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm140614_942
June Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210626_1655
June Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm210626_1658
June Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm210626_1661
June Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Involucral bracts whitish with green tips, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
COMPARE
involucral bracts of North American asters
)
JK Marlow jkm220607_8388
June Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm220609_8472
June Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
Leaves entire, to 0.5" wide, more than 5x long as wide, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm220609_8506
June Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
Ray flowers white to pink, 3-6, narrow, 0.2-0.4" long; disk flowers cream, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm0507l_28
July Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow s050716_c
July Oconee County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Sericocarpus linifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sericocarpus linifolius
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Sericocarpus linifolius
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-47-002:
Aster solidagineus
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sericocarpus linifolius
169
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Dry woodlands, woodland margins, longleaf pine sandhills, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (rare in NC Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Leaves cauline, basal rosette lacking, the mid-stem leaves the largest
Alternate (basal rosette absent or withered at flowering)
FLOWER:
Summer
Rays: White
Disc: White
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
Flower heads in corymbs
FRUIT:
Summer
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p202
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p180
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p112
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p324
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p375
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p213
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p046
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