Flowers
Conical inflorescences terminate many stems and are up to 1' long each. Showy white to cream sterile florets surround the greenish-yellow true flowers hidden underneath. The sterile florets gradually change to pink, lavender, bronze, and finally brown as the season progresses, flowering in June and persistent as a fruiting head into the next season. Overall the many inflorescences create a showy, radiating effect of white flowers.
Culture
Full sun to full shade. Prefers moist, well-drained, rich, slightly acidic soils in full sun, but is tolerant of dry or wet sites, soils of average fertility, and neutral to slightly alkaline so8ils (the foliage may become slightly chlorotic in extremely alkaline soils, which can be remedied with an annual regimen of fertilization).
Growing Habit
Medium-sized ornamental shrub. maturing at about 7' tall by 8' wide.
Radiating rounded growth habit. Slow growth rate in youth, sometimes achieving a medium growth rate with establishment.
Foliage
Dark green, opposite, and overall very broadly ovate to elliptical. Leaf margins are serrated, incised, and range from entire to seven-lobed, with deep sinuses and acuminate apices. Leaves are up to 1' long, often resembling the foliage of Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra), hence the common name. Fall color in October and November is a mixture of green, wine, purple, maroon, red, and brown, with uniform fall color occurring in full sun (in shady areas, the fall color tends to be bronzy-green at abscission).
