Aster, Flat-Topped - Doellingeria umbellata

Doellingeria umbellata, also known as Flat-Topped Aster, is a perennial wildflower native to Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Plant reaches 4 to 5 feet tall in moist conditions and flowers summer to fall with large, flat clusters of white blooms. Blooming mid-summer, earlier than other asters, its large clusters of flowers are available to a much wider variety of pollinators, including long- and short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, beetles and butterflies. Flat-Topped Aster is the host plant for Harris' Checkerspot (picture 2) and other butterfly larvae.