This weedy fall wildflower is still topping nature-spotting apps
iNaturalist Community
Native Plants
If you've noticed clouds of small white daisy-like flowers taking over roadsides and field edges right now, you're seeing frost aster hit its late-season peak right on schedule.
Frost aster is a scrappy native wildflower covered in tiny white, daisy-shaped blooms, and it's been the single most-photographed plant on iNaturalist in the US this week. Nearly a thousand people logged a sighting, which tells you it's everywhere right now, in ditches, old fields, and yard edges, as it rides out the first cool nights of fall. The slight dip from last week's count hints that its bloom is starting to taper off as frost approaches, which is fitting for a plant named after it.
Key Findings
951 observations of frost aster were logged nationwide in the past 7 days, among the highest counts for any plant species on iNaturalist
That's a drop of 120 observations from the prior week's total of 1,071, a roughly 11% week-over-week decline
Frost aster belongs to the aster family (Asteraceae) and is one of the most frequently photographed wild plants in the US this time of year
chevron_right Technical Summary
Frost aster, a common native wildflower, was the most-logged plant sighting on iNaturalist in the US this week with 951 observations, though that's down from 1,071 the week before as fall bloom winds down.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trending: frost aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum) — 951 observations this week
Frost aster (Symphyotrichum pilosum) is a species in the family Asteraceae. iNaturalist users recorded 951 observations of it in the United States in the 7 days before today, among the most for any...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Symphyotrichum pilosum is a perennial, herbaceous, flowering plant in the Asteraceae family native to central and eastern North America. It is commonly called hairy white oldfield aster, frost aster, white heath aster, heath aster, hairy aster, common old field aster, old field aster, awl aster, ...