Rigid Whitetop Aster

Symphyotrichum retroflexum (formerly Aster retroflexus) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to the southeastern United States. Commonly known as rigid whitetop aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 40 to 100 centimeters (16 to 39 inches) tall. Its flowers have blue to purple ray florets and cream to pale yellow then pinkish disk florets. It is known only from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, where it grows in wooded areas at elevations of 400–1,500 meters (1,300–4,900 feet).

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Is it poisonous?

We have no record of Rigid Whitetop Aster being toxic, poisonous or venomous. That is not proof that it is safe. Never eat, touch or handle a wild plant, mushroom or animal on the strength of an identification; ask someone qualified.

Easily confused with

• Symphyotrichum anomalum
• Symphyotrichum turbinellum
• Symphyotrichum georgianum
• Eurybia surculosa
• Symphyotrichum shortii
• Symphyotrichum prenanthoides

Classification

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Asterales

Family

Asteraceae

Genus

Symphyotrichum

Species

Symphyotrichum retroflexum

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