Maryland Goldenaster
Chrysopsis mariana
Maryland goldenaster is an aster relative that looks like a small goldenrod, opening loose clusters of golden-yellow daisies in early fall on stems clothed in long silky hairs that catch the light. Those hairs are the quickest field character separating it from the goldenrods it often grows beside. It is a plant of lean, sandy, sharply drained ground — old fields, roadside cuts and thin woodland edges — and it holds bloom from August into October, when it is one of the few things left for late bees and small butterflies. Growth is modest, a foot or two, and it builds a slow clump rather than running. It asks for no fertility at all, staying short and stiff on poor sand where in cultivated soil it tends to sprawl open.
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 1–2.5 ft
- Spacing
- 1–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- August, September, October
- Bloom colors
- yellow
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, butterflies, mammals
- Landscape uses
- border, naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV