Burke: Erigeron poliospermus vs. Erigeron aliceae

	Erigeron poliospermus	Erigeron aliceae
	hairy-seeded daisy, cushion fleabane	Alice's fleabane, Eastwood's fleabane
Habit	Taprooted perennial with short-branched, woody base; stems to 15 cm. high; plants more or less spreading-hairy and glandular throughout.	Perennial usually from a rhizome, 3-8 dm. tall, amply leafy, covered with stiff, short, blunt hairs.
Leaves	Basal leaves linear-oblanceolate to spatulate, up to 8 cm. long and 12 mm. wide, the cauline leaves reduced.	Leaves entire or coarsely toothed, the lower ones up to 20 cm. long including the petiole, and 3.5 cm. wide, the middle and upper leaves sessile, narrowly lanceolate to oblong.
Flowers	Heads solitary, hemispheric, the disk 9-20 mm. wide; involucre 5-9 mm. high; rays 15-45, pale pink or purple to deep violet, 4-15 mm. long and 1.3-3.6 mm. wide; pappus of 20-30 capillary bristles.	Heads 1-several, the disk 12-20 mm. wide; involucral bracts loose, pointed, sub-equal, with conspicuous stiff, white hairs on the lower half, and glands on the upper portion; rays 45-80, pistillate, 10-15 mm. long and 2-3 mm. wide, white to pink-purple; disk corollas 3-4 mm. long, yellow; pappus simple.
Fruits	Achenes densely covered with long, silky hairs.	Achenes usually 2-nerved.

	Erigeron poliospermus	Erigeron aliceae
Flowering time	April-June	June-August
Habitat	Dry, open, typically rocky areas, often with sagebrush.	Moist to fairly dry, sandy, open areas at middle elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon, east to western Idaho. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in the Olympic Mountains and southward in Washington; Washington to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Sensitive in Washington (WANHP)
Sibling taxa	E. acris, E. aliceae, E. annuus, E. aureus, E. basalticus, E. bloomeri, E. caespitosus, E. chrysopsidis, E. compositus, E. corymbosus, E. davisii, E. disparipilus, E. divergens, E. eatonii, E. elatus, E. filifolius, E. flettii, E. glacialis, E. howellii, E. inornatus, E. karvinskianus, E. leibergii, E. linearis, E. lonchophyllus, E. nivalis, E. oreganus, E. peregrinus, E. philadelphicus, E. piperianus, E. pumilus, E. salishii, E. speciosus, E. strigosus, E. subtrinervis	E. acris, E. annuus, E. aureus, E. basalticus, E. bloomeri, E. caespitosus, E. chrysopsidis, E. compositus, E. corymbosus, E. davisii, E. disparipilus, E. divergens, E. eatonii, E. elatus, E. filifolius, E. flettii, E. glacialis, E. howellii, E. inornatus, E. karvinskianus, E. leibergii, E. linearis, E. lonchophyllus, E. nivalis, E. oreganus, E. peregrinus, E. philadelphicus, E. piperianus, E. poliospermus, E. pumilus, E. salishii, E. speciosus, E. strigosus, E. subtrinervis
Subordinate taxa	E. poliospermus var. cereus, E. poliospermus var. poliospermus
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Erigeron poliospermus

Erigeron aliceae

hairy-seeded daisy, cushion fleabane

Alice's fleabane, Eastwood's fleabane

Habit

Taprooted perennial with short-branched, woody base; stems to 15 cm. high; plants more or less spreading-hairy and glandular throughout.

Perennial usually from a rhizome, 3-8 dm. tall, amply leafy, covered with stiff, short, blunt hairs.

Leaves

Basal leaves linear-oblanceolate to spatulate, up to 8 cm. long and 12 mm. wide, the cauline leaves reduced.

Leaves entire or coarsely toothed, the lower ones up to 20 cm. long including the petiole, and 3.5 cm. wide, the middle and upper leaves sessile, narrowly lanceolate to oblong.

Flowers

Heads solitary, hemispheric, the disk 9-20 mm. wide;

involucre 5-9 mm. high;

rays 15-45, pale pink or purple to deep violet, 4-15 mm. long and 1.3-3.6 mm. wide;

pappus of 20-30 capillary bristles.

Heads 1-several, the disk 12-20 mm. wide;

involucral bracts loose, pointed, sub-equal, with conspicuous stiff, white hairs on the lower half, and glands on the upper portion;

rays 45-80, pistillate, 10-15 mm. long and 2-3 mm. wide, white to pink-purple; disk corollas 3-4 mm. long, yellow;

pappus simple.

Fruits

Achenes densely covered with long, silky hairs.

Achenes usually 2-nerved.