# Flat-Top White Aster (*doellingeria umbellata*)

The Flat-Top White Aster is a beautiful flower that blooms in late summer. Its flat-topped clusters of white flowers attract many butterflies and bees!

- **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger
- **Habitat:** Fields, meadows, and roadside areas.
- **Also known as:** Doellingeria, Flat-Top Aster

![Flat-Top White Aster](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Doellingeria_umbellata.jpg&width=800)

Photo: Joshua Mayer, CC BY-SA 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doellingeria_umbellata.jpg)

## Appearance

The Flat-Top White Aster is a tall, upright plant with stiff stems. It has lance-shaped leaves and distinctively flat-topped clusters of many small, white, daisy-like flowers, which make it visually different from other asters with domed flower heads.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Plantae
- **Phylum:** Tracheophyta
- **Class:** Magnoliopsida
- **Order:** Asterales
- **Family:** Asteraceae
- **Genus:** Doellingeria

## Interesting facts

- Its scientific name, Doellingeria, honors a German botanist!
- Rub its leaves, and you might smell a faint pine-like scent!
- The 'flat-top' isn't one flower, but hundreds of tiny ones grouped together!
- This plant can grow taller than an adult person!

## Special abilities

- **Pollinator Platform:** Flat-Top White Aster has broad, flat flower clusters that act as perfect landing pads for many insects.
- **Autumn Feast:** This aster blooms late in the season, providing a critical nectar source when other flowers fade.
- **Wind Rider:** Flat-Top White Aster produces seeds with fluffy tufts that help them travel far on the wind.

## Measurements & details

- **Height:** 100-200 cm
- **Spread:** 30-60 cm
- **Flower Size:** 0.5-1.5 cm
- **Bloom Season:** Late summer to fall
- **Edible:** No
- **Toxicity:** None
- **Lifecycle:** Perennial
- **Pollination Method:** Insect

## Ecological connections

- **Pollinates:** Honey bee (*Apis mellifera*) — Gathers nectar and pollen
- **Pollinates:** [Monarch butterfly](https://www.snappit.app/explore/monarch-butterfly) (*Danaus plexippus*) — Feeds on nectar during migration
- **Pollinates:** [Common eastern bumble bee](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-eastern-bumble-bee) (*Bombus impatiens*) — Key late-season pollinator
- **Eats:** Aster stem borer moth (*Margaritia asternana*) — Larvae bore into stems

## Traits

- [Colorful](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/colorful): Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.
- [Grassland](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/grassland): Grassland habitats are terrestrial biomes dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants, supporting a variety of grazing animals.
- [Herbivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/herbivorous): This trait characterizes organisms whose diet consists entirely or primarily of plant material.
- [Diurnal](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/diurnal): Diurnal animals are primarily active during daylight hours, typically resting or sleeping at night.
- [Pollinator](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/pollinator): Describes organisms that transfer pollen, enabling the fertilization and reproduction of plants.

## Collections

- [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/plants)

## Safety

**Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger

No special safety notes yet.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Flat-Top White Aster?

Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How tall is Flat-Top White Aster?

100-200 cm

### How wide does Flat-Top White Aster spread?

30-60 cm

### How big are the flowers on Flat-Top White Aster?

0.5-1.5 cm

### When does Flat-Top White Aster bloom?

Late summer to fall

### Is Flat-Top White Aster edible?

No

### Is Flat-Top White Aster toxic?

None

### What is Flat-Top White Aster's lifecycle?

Perennial

## Where to spot

- [Fuller County Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/fuller-county-park) — Michigan, US · Park

## More Plants

- [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*)
- [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*)
- [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*)
- [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*)

---

Source: [Flat-Top White Aster: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/flat-top-white-aster)