Ridge Whitetop Aster
Symphyotrichum retroflexum (Lindl.) Nesom is native to moist meadows, moist woodlands, dry, open, pine or oak woods, and wooded roadsides in the southern Appalachian Mts. of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western South Carolina, northern Georgia and adjacent Alabama and Virginia (Brouillet et al. 2006; FNA). The species has been treated as Aster retroflexus Lindl. and Aster curtisii Torr. & A. Gray. It is possible that the species is an allopolyploid derived from members of S. subsect Cordifolii and S. subsect. Symphyotrichum (Brouillet et al. 2006). The ray florets are bluish to purple and the outer phyllaries are long and spreading to recurved. The species has been reported to be hexaploid 2n=48.
1-5. Symphyotrichum retroflexum. 1. Semple & Chmielewski 6217 WAT, Macon Co., North Carolina. 2. Involucre and ray floret, Semple 9634 . 3. Fruit, S & Ch 6217. 4-5. Base and distal ends and pappus bristles, S & Ch 6217.
Brouillet, L., J.C. Semple, G.A. Allen, K. Chambers and S. Sundburg. 2006. Symphyotrichum Nees. pp. 465-539. In Flora North America Editorial Committee, eds. Flora of North America. Vol. 20. Asteraceae, Part 2. Astereae and Senecioneae. Oxford University Press, New York.
Revised 30 March 2025 by J.C. Semple
© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated