Index / Search / Canadanthus modestus

§1 Plant — species · Asteraceae

Canadanthus modestus (Lindl.) G.L. Nesom

vernacular giant mountain aster


USDA
CAMO32
GBIF
3137596
Rank
species
giant mountain aster (Canadanthus modestus)
Platephotograph · John D ReynoldsCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Canadanthus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
16–40 in/yr
pH range
5.7–7.5
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
3 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Summer
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
320,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 13 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAMO32 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3137596 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z