Sericocarpus tortifolius, commonly known as the Dixie whitetop aster or the twisted-leaf white-topped aster, is a perennial forb in the family Asteraceae that is endemic to the southeastern United States.
Sericocarpus tortifolius grows 33âÂÂ117 cm tall, with erect, hairy stems. The lower and basal leaves typically wither by the time of flowering, while the upper (cauline) leaves are sessile. Leaf blades are obovate, 10âÂÂ40 mm long and 3âÂÂ10 mm wide, with entire margins and pointed to slightly tipped ends. Both leaf surfaces are hairy and resinous. Flower heads occur in clusters of 2âÂÂ4 per branch, arranged in flat-topped (corymbiform) arrays. Bracts on the flower stalks are broad and hairy, ranging from lance-shaped to ovate. The involucre is 5âÂÂ8 mm long, with phyllaries in 4âÂÂ5 overlapping rows, increasing in size inward (outer 2âÂÂ3 mm, inner up to 6 mm), and lightly hairy. Each head contains 2âÂÂ5 ray florets with corolla tubes 3âÂÂ4 mm long and rays 3âÂÂ6 mm, along with 6âÂÂ11 disc florets with 4âÂÂ6 mm tubes and 1âÂÂ2 mm lobes. The ovaries are spindle-shaped to obconic (1âÂÂ3 mm), densely covered in stiff hairs, and topped with a pappus of fine bristles 6âÂÂ8 mm long.
Sericocarpus tortifolius is distributed from eastern North Carolina south to South Florida and west to eastern Louisiana. It is mostly restricted to the Coastal Plain, but is found inland on hard-rock provinces in north-central Georgia and north-central Alabama. It grows in dry to mesic longleaf pine sandhills, mesic to scrubby flatwoods, and other dry woodlands.