Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Philadelphia fleabane
Erigeron philadelphicus · includes its varieties and subspecies
Philadelphia fleabane is recorded as native to 45 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,411 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Philadelphia fleabane at a glance
- Native in
- 1,411 counties, across 45 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 2.8 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Philadelphia fleabane is recorded as native to 45 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,411 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,411 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 12 counties
- Arkansas 55 counties
- California 39 counties
- Colorado 5 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 9 counties
- Georgia 10 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Illinois 97 counties
- Indiana 78 counties
- Iowa 17 counties
- Kansas 36 counties
- Kentucky 64 counties
- Louisiana 64 counties
- Maine 10 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 68 counties
- Minnesota 79 counties
- Mississippi 58 counties
- Missouri 54 counties
- Montana 5 counties
- Nebraska 35 counties
- Nevada 2 counties
- New Hampshire 8 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New Mexico 8 counties
- New York 39 counties
- North Carolina 20 counties
- North Dakota 30 counties
- Ohio 74 counties
- Oklahoma 29 counties
- Oregon 25 counties
- Pennsylvania 61 counties
- South Carolina 6 counties
- South Dakota 15 counties
- Tennessee 48 counties
- Texas 48 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 49 counties
- Washington 23 counties
- West Virginia 38 counties
- Wisconsin 44 counties
- Wyoming 2 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Biennial, Perennial
- Mature height
- 2.8 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 18 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.8 to 7.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ERPH
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Erigeron philadelphicus (PLANTS symbol ERPH), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources