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Pictured: Aster alpinus — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Asteraceae family

Vierhapper's Aster (var. vierhapperi) Aster alpinus var. vierhapperi variety

Native

Vierhapper's Aster (var. vierhapperi) is a perennial wildflower native to Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48 states. A keystone plant for native insects and the food web.

More about this plant

Aster alpinus, the alpine aster or blue alpine daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the mountains of Europe, with a subspecies native to Canada and the United States. This herbaceous perennial has purple, pink, white or blue flowers in summer. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 7 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~109 caterpillar species

Aster supports ~109 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is an exceptional genus.

Recorded feeding on Aster in North America, including:

Acrocercops astericola · leaf-blotch miner moth Actebia fennica · owlet moth Adaina montana · plume moth Agnorisma badinodis · Pale-Banded Dart Agrotis gladiaria · Swordsman Dart Allagrapha aerea · Unspotted Looper Moth
+ 8 more species →
Anacampsis nonstrigella · twirler moth Anthanassa texana · Texan Crescent Aphelia alleniana · Wide-Striped Leafroller Asymmetrura impositella Asymmetrura matutella Biston betularia · Peppered Moth Bucculatrix angustata · ribbed cocoon-maker moth Bucculatrix cuneigera · ribbed cocoon-maker moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (13) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[11] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[12] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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