Whirled Wood Aster is a native wildflower found in the mountains of NC and from eastern Canada south to Georgia. It spreads by underground runners to form colonies and prefers cool wooded locations. It is fairly shade-tolerant but blooms best in sun. It prefers well-drained acidic soils but will tolerate wetter ones. Use in an open woodland native garden in full sun to partial shade to add late summer to fall color.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Wet
NC region
Mountains
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Texture
Medium
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Elliptical; Lanceolate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
This plant usually has 10-20 leaves below the flower cluster. The leaves are coarsely toothed, alternately spiraled up the stem in such a way as to appear whorled and crowded near the top of the stem. They are lance-shaped or elliptic and long-pointed at both ends with one main vein running from the base to the tip. Undersides are sticky. They are 2.5 inches long and 3/4 inch wide.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow; Pink; Red/Burgundy; White
Flower value
Long Bloom Season; Showy
Flower form
Corymb
Flower shape
Radial
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
1-1.5 inch composite flowers with 10-17 usually white but sometimes pinkish outer petals surrounding yellow or red disk flowers. It also has straw-colored bracts that are sharply pointed and layered. Blooms July-Oct.