Erigeron eximius |
Erigeron speciosus |
|
---|---|---|
spruce-fir fleabane |
aspen fleabane, showy daisy, showy fleabane, splendid fleabane |
|
Habit | Perennials, 15–60 cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudices or primary rhizomes slender, simple or branched, usually producing slender, herbaceous, scale-leaved stolons bearing terminal leaf tufts. | Perennials, 30–80(–100) cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudices relatively thick. |
Stems | erect to ascending, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirsuto-pilose proximal to heads, densely minutely glandular to nearly eglandular. |
erect, glabrous or sparsely hirsuto-pilose (hairs 0.5–1 mm), often minutely glandular distally. |
Leaves | basal (persistent) and cauline; basal blades spatulate to elliptic-spatulate (to oblanceolate-obovate), 30–150 × 9–35 mm; cauline gradually reduced distally (bases usually clasping to subclasping), margins entire or serrulate to mucronulate with 3–5 pairs of teeth, faces glabrous, distal often glandular. |
basal (usually withering by flowering) and cauline; basal blades oblanceolate-spatulate, 30–80(–150) × 4–18(–28) mm, margins entire, often ciliate (main veins sometimes also), faces glabrous, eglandular or distal sparsely minutely glandular; cauline blades ovate to ovate-lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, or lanceolate, nearly even-sized distally or sometimes mid largest (continuing to immediately below heads, bases usually clasping to subclasping). |
Involucres | 7–9 × 11–19 mm. |
6–9 × 11–22 mm. |
Ray florets | 40–80; corollas white to bluish or lavender, 12–20 mm, laminae coiling. |
75–150; corollas blue to lavender, rarely whitish, 8–16 mm (mostly 1 mm wide), laminae slightly coiling at least at tips. |
Disc corollas | (3.6–)4–5.8 mm. |
4–5 mm. |
Phyllaries | in 3–4 series (often purplish), usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely villous at bases, minutely glandular. |
in 2–3(–4) series, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirsuto-pilose, minutely glandular. |
Heads | 1–5(–15). |
(2–)4–20 in corymbiform arrays. |
Cypselae | 1.8–2.5 mm, 2(–4)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 20–30 bristles. |
1.5–1.8 mm, 2(–4)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 20–30 bristles. |
2n | = 18, 36. |
|
Erigeron eximius |
Erigeron speciosus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | Flowering Jul–Oct. |
Habitat | Margins or openings, pine, aspen, spruce-fir, subalpine meadows | Dry or moist, gravelly or loamy soil, prairies, yellow pine, pine-fir, spruce-fir, aspen-spruce |
Elevation | 2300–3500 m (7500–11500 ft) | (600–)900–3400 m ((2000–)3000–11200 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; WY
|
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
|
Discussion | Erigeron eximius apparently sometimes forms intermediates with E. formosissimus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The population in Baja California is disjunct from the closest range in Arizona and northern Nevada. Plants glabrous and glandular on the phyllaries, stems, and leaves have been recognized as var. macranthus; they intergrade with hairier forms and do not show a coherent geographic pattern. Plants commonly identified as Erigeron subtrinervis var. conspicuus usually have stems sparsely hirsuto-pilose with hairs 1–1.5 mm, and the leaves commonly are ciliate on the margins and veins. As implied in the nomenclatural combination by Breitung, those plants are more similar to E. speciosus than to E. subtrinervis, and they apparently show part of the greater variability of E. speciosus in the northwestern part of its range (Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming), where more typical plants also occur. Erigeron speciosus and E. subtrinervis are sympatric over large parts of their ranges and appear to be at least partially reproductively isolated entities, although intermediates are frequently encountered. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 333. | FNA vol. 20, p. 330. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. superbus | Stenactis speciosa, E. conspicuus, E. macranthus, E. speciosus var. conspicuus, E. speciosus var. macranthus, E. subtrinervis subsp. conspicuus, E. subtrinervis var. conspicuus |
Name authority | Greene: Pittonia 3: 295. (1898) | (Lindley) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 284. (1836) |
Web links |