Heath aster is a native perennial plant that can be found in most counties in Illinois where they grow in the prairie and along roadsides and railroad tracks. It branches horizontally, producing a bushy plant up to 2 feet tall. The stems and leaves are hairy, and from late summer through fall it produces small white daisy-like flowers in great numbers. It prefers full sun where it is drought resistant and will attract bees, wasps, and flies as well as butterflies and moths that feed on the flowers and the foliage. Growers in South America, Holland, the United States have produced cultivars of the heath aster, which they grow commercially and sell as fillers for floral bouquets.