White Wood Aster, Eurybia divaricata, Plants of Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.

Stems: White Wood Aster is a perennial that grows from 1 to 2-1/2 feet tall. Stems tend to have a slight zigzag to them and they can be spreading or sprawling. The stem within the inflorescence has very fine hair. Flowers: The inflorescence is a loose grouping of somewhat flat-topped branched clusters branching from the top part of the stem. Several long green bracts may appear among the flowers. The flowers are about one inch wide composed of 5 to 16 white ray petals surrounding a central disk of numerous yellow disk flowers that turn reddish at maturity. The petals can also have a lilac tinge of color. They also seem to pointing in various directions. The bracts of the flower head are rounded to pointed in shape and are whitish with green tips. Seeds are a dry nutlet with a few fine bristles and hair for wind dispersion. Leaves are large and thin, oval-lanceolate in shape with heart shaped bases, coarse teeth on the margins, a pointed tip that usually has a twist to it. If there is any leaf hair it will be sparse. Lower leaves are on long stalks. Upper leaves will be much smaller with short stalks.

Habitat: White Wood Aster grows from a creeping rhizome, which will form colonies. It prefers the drier, well drained soil of open woods in partial to full shade. Best to plant in an area where it can sprawl out as the flower clusters held above the leaves are quite showy. The species name, divaricata, refers to the spreading habit. The species was formerly named Aster divaricatus, however, all the new world asters, formerly in the genus Aster, have now been reclassified, most into the genus Symphyotrichum, several to Eurybia.

Comparisons: The most likely species to confuse with this one is it's sister in the Eurybia genus, the Bigleaf Aster, E. macrophylla. Differences are that E. divaricata has white petals with little or no lilac color, fewer rays per flower head, and the leaves are only on the flowering stem, whereas E. macrophylla has more lilac color, 9 to 20 rays, and has basal leaves plus stem leaves. The Heart-leaved Aster, Symphyotrichum cordifolium, also have similar leaves, but the flower panicle is rounded, not flattened.

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	White Wood Aster	Eurybia divaricata (L.) G. L. Nesom [formerly Aster divaricatus L.]	Aster (Asteraceae)	Woodland	Late Summer to Autumn
Other names and notes	Stems: White Wood Aster is a perennial that grows from 1 to 2-1/2 feet tall. Stems tend to have a slight zigzag to them and they can be spreading or sprawling. The stem within the inflorescence has very fine hair. Flowers: The inflorescence is a loose grouping of somewhat flat-topped branched clusters branching from the top part of the stem. Several long green bracts may appear among the flowers. The flowers are about one inch wide composed of 5 to 16 white ray petals surrounding a central disk of numerous yellow disk flowers that turn reddish at maturity. The petals can also have a lilac tinge of color. They also seem to pointing in various directions. The bracts of the flower head are rounded to pointed in shape and are whitish with green tips. Seeds are a dry nutlet with a few fine bristles and hair for wind dispersion. Leaves are large and thin, oval-lanceolate in shape with heart shaped bases, coarse teeth on the margins, a pointed tip that usually has a twist to it. If there is any leaf hair it will be sparse. Lower leaves are on long stalks. Upper leaves will be much smaller with short stalks. Habitat: White Wood Aster grows from a creeping rhizome, which will form colonies. It prefers the drier, well drained soil of open woods in partial to full shade. Best to plant in an area where it can sprawl out as the flower clusters held above the leaves are quite showy. The species name, divaricata, refers to the spreading habit. The species was formerly named Aster divaricatus, however, all the new world asters, formerly in the genus Aster, have now been reclassified, most into the genus Symphyotrichum, several to Eurybia. Comparisons: The most likely species to confuse with this one is it's sister in the Eurybia genus, the Bigleaf Aster, E. macrophylla. Differences are that E. divaricata has white petals with little or no lilac color, fewer rays per flower head, and the leaves are only on the flowering stem, whereas E. macrophylla has more lilac color, 9 to 20 rays, and has basal leaves plus stem leaves. The Heart-leaved Aster, Symphyotrichum cordifolium, also have similar leaves, but the flower panicle is rounded, not flattened.