Meadows, fields, clearings, hillsides, river banks, sparsely forested sites; roadsides, vacant lots, pine plantations; doubtless originally in prairie openings.

This species is very similar to C. altissimum. The heads of C. discolor run a little larger (involucre ca. 2.4–3.3 cm long in our material, compared with 2–2.7 cm in C. altissimum), but precise measurements are hard to determine. The white-flowered form [f. albiflorum (Britton) House] has been collected in Calhoun, Lenawee, Oakland, and Washtenaw Cos.