Cornel-leaved or cornel-leaf whitetop aster

Aster infirmus Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 109. 1803; A. cornifolius Muhlenberg ex Willdenow; A. humilis Willdenow; Diplopappus cornifolius (Muhlenberg ex Willdenow) Lessing ex Darlington ; Diplostephium cornifolium (Muhlenberg ex Willdenow) de Candolle; Doellingeria cornifolia (Muhlenberg ex Willdenow) Nees; D. humilis (Willdenow) Britton; D. umbellata var. humilis (Willdenow) W. Stone

Plants 40–120 cm (crowns short, woody). Stems 1, ascending to erect, slightly to strongly flexuous, striate, glabrous. Cauline leaves: mid and distal not crowded, blades broadly lanceolate to oblanceolate, 50–130 × 15–45 mm, reduced and narrower distally, bases cuneate, margins flat to ± involute, finely ciliate, apices acuminate, faces glabrous or sparsely hairy. Heads (1–)3–33(–78). Peduncles 1–10 mm (leafless or nearly so), sparsely to moderately canescent; bracts linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate. Involucres 3.8–6.8 mm. Phyllaries in 4–5 series, midveins usually swollen and translucent, apices narrowly rounded , glabrate. Rays (3–)4–8(–11); laminae 6–12(–14.5) × 1–3.3 mm. Disc florets 4–13(–20); corollas 4–7 mm, lobes 2.5–3.5 mm, 50–75% of limbs. Cypselae 1.8–3.8 mm, 6–10-ribbed, glabrous, rarely sparsely strigose, sometimes sparsely glandular; pappi: outer 0.5–1 mm, inner 3.9–5 mm. 2n = 18.

Flowering mid summer–early fall. Rich loam and dry rocky soils, deciduous woods, mountains and adjacent plateaus; 10–100 m; Ala., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ky., Md., Mass., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Doellingeria infirma is found in the Appalachian Mountains, the Piedmont and adjacent plateaus, to northern Florida.