It grows in all types of woods and clearings, though usually in drier sites and spreads via rhizomes to form colonies. Big-leaved aster makes an excellent ground cover in shady situations. Flowers late summer and into autumn. May. Its petals turn pink in color as it senesces. Shortly afterwards a maroon-pink fruit forms.
Ants are the primary dispersal agents of the seeds.
They discard the seed, unaware of the valuable planting service they are providing. Trilliums become dormant by mid summer. Often mistaken for grass, this sedge is the ideal groundcover. Pennsylvania sedge is a loosely-clumped perennial that grows in dry sandy soils in full sun to medium shade. As its name suggests, the seed head of this 4 tall grass resembles a brush.