However, only a few species of plants produce frost flowers, and the formations never occur in exactly the same manner from one year to the next, or even from one night to the next. That is what makes finding them so exciting and wonderful. In fact, white crownbeard also is commonly called frostweed. It has long, toothy oval leaves and a crown of small white flowers. Reaching a height of up to seven feet, white crownbeard grows in open woods, valleys and streamsides south of the Missouri River.
Yellow ironweed grows statewide in moist, lowland woods and along streams.
The plant is similar in appearance to white crownbeard, but it produces numerous ragged, yellow flowers. Plants that already have died and turned dry and brittle before the first hard freeze will not produce any frost flowers. Weedy fencerows, stream banks, roadside ditches, city weed lots, weedy gardens and moist, open woodlands all are potential frost flower sites. The Conservation Department's wildlife habitat restoration efforts include increasing field edges and restoring many native plant species. This has the happy side benefit of providing more opportunities to find frost flowers.