Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Prairie fleabane
Erigeron strigosus · includes its varieties and subspecies
Prairie fleabane is recorded as native to 45 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,883 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Prairie fleabane at a glance
- Native in
- 1,883 counties, across 45 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) 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.
Prairie fleabane is recorded as native to 45 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,883 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,883 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 18 counties
- Arkansas 72 counties
- California 8 counties
- Colorado 5 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 43 counties
- Georgia 51 counties
- Idaho 17 counties
- Illinois 89 counties
- Indiana 55 counties
- Iowa 31 counties
- Kansas 84 counties
- Kentucky 64 counties
- Louisiana 47 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 72 counties
- Minnesota 78 counties
- Mississippi 70 counties
- Missouri 96 counties
- Montana 12 counties
- Nebraska 58 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New Mexico 2 counties
- New York 37 counties
- North Carolina 91 counties
- North Dakota 43 counties
- Ohio 71 counties
- Oklahoma 58 counties
- Oregon 14 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 45 counties
- South Dakota 44 counties
- Tennessee 54 counties
- Texas 85 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 93 counties
- Washington 16 counties
- West Virginia 41 counties
- Wisconsin 69 counties
- Wyoming 5 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
- Annual, Biennial, Perennial
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 12 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.8 to 7.2
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ERST3
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 strigosus (PLANTS symbol ERST3), including 3 varieties and 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