Symphyotrichum retroflexum

Symphyotrichum retroflexum (formerly Aster retroflexus) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to the southeastern United States. Commonly known as rigid whitetop aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 40 to 100 centimeters (16 to 39 inches) tall. Its flowers have blue to purple ray florets and cream to pale yellow then pinkish disk florets. It is known only from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, where it grows in wooded areas at elevations of 400–1,500 meters (1,300–4,900 feet).^[5] As of September 2021^[update], NatureServe classified it as Apparently Secure (G4); it had been reviewed last in 1994 and is marked as "needs review".^[1] There is an introduced presence of S. retroflexum in southeast China.^[2]

S. retroflexum herbarium specimen

Symphyotrichum retroflexum
S. retroflexum, Macon County, North Carolina
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)[a][1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Tribe:	Astereae
Subtribe:	Symphyotrichinae
Genus:	Symphyotrichum
Subgenus:	Symphyotrichum subg. Symphyotrichum
Section:	Symphyotrichum sect. Symphyotrichum
Species:	S. retroflexum
Binomial name
Symphyotrichum retroflexum (Lindl.) G.L.Nesom[2]
Native distribution[3][4]
Synonyms[2]
Aster curtisii Torr. & A.Gray Aster retroflexus Lindl.

Notes

1. As of September 2021^[update], NatureServe's latest global status review for this species was dated 25 November 1994 with a notation that "Global status needs review."^[1]