Erigeron flagellaris |
Erigeron denalii |
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trailing fleabane, whiplash daisy |
Denali fleabane |
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Habit | Perennials, 1–5 cm; taprooted, caudices diffuse with extensive systems of rhizomelike, relatively long and slender branches. | |
Stems | first erect (greenish proximally; usually single, simple), then producing herbaceous, leafy, prostrate runners (usually with rooting plantlets at tips, populations often becoming clonal mats), strigose (often sparsely; hairs antrorsely appressed, consistent in orientation), sometimes slightly glandular distally. |
erect (simple, ± scapiform), villous, granular-glandular. |
Leaves | basal (often persistent) and cauline; basal blades broadly oblanceolate to elliptic, 20–55 × 3–9 mm; cauline abruptly reduced distally, margins entire or dentate, faces strigose, eglandular. |
basal (persistent) and cauline; blades spatulate to oblanceolate-spatulate, 10–20 × 2–4(–5) mm, mid larger than basal and proximal, margins entire or shallowly (2–)3-lobed or -toothed apically (apices obtuse to nearly truncate), faces moderately villous, minutely glandular. |
Involucres | 3–5 × 6–13 mm. |
(4–)5–7 × 9–12 mm. |
Ray florets | 40–125; corollas white, often with an abaxial midstripe, often drying lilac, 4–10 mm, laminae not coiling or reflexing. |
30–55; corollas white to lavender, 4–8 mm, laminae (filiform to narrowly straplike, 0.3–2 mm wide, often involute) erect, rarely spreading, not coiling or reflexing. |
Disc florets/ |
2–3.5 mm. |
3.8–4.8 mm. |
Phyllaries | in 2–3 series, strigose to loosely hirsute, minutely glandular. |
in 2(–3) series, densely lanate-villous (hairs to 3 mm, often with dark purple cross walls), glandular. |
Heads | 1(–3, on proximal branches). |
1. |
Cypselae | 0.8–1.3 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 10–17 bristles. |
3–3.8 mm, 2-nerved, faces strigillose to strigoso-hirsute; pappi: outer 0 (or inconspicuous), inner of 20–25 (usually ± purple-red tinged, sometimes whitish, variable within populations) bristles. |
Biennuals | or short-lived perennials, 3–15 cm; usually fibrous-rooted, sometimes taprooted, caudices lignescent, rarely branched. |
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2n | = 18, 27, 36, 45, 54. |
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Erigeron flagellaris |
Erigeron denalii |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Aug(–Sep). | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Meadows and grassy slopes, often moist, open areas in grasslands, pinyon pine, oak-pine, pine, aspen, and spruce-fir | Open alpine and subalpine habitats, tundra slopes, openings in spruce-fir woods, gravelly and shaley scree, cut banks |
Elevation | (1700–)2100–3600 m ((5600–)6900–11800 ft) | 900–2200 m (3000–7200 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; KS; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico
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AK; NT; YT; BC |
Discussion | Early season forms of Erigeron flagellaris may consist of a basal rosette and a single, erect, scapiform, monocephalous stem; leafy runners usually develop quickly. Many polyploids of this species are indistinguishable from diploids; some polyploids have features suggestive of genetic influence of E. tracyi. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Erigeron denalii and E. purpuratus are similar and probably closely related; the two appear to be partially sympatric; differences in vestiture and leaf morphology are constant. The habitat of E. purpuratus, sandy or gravelly alluvium, also is remarkably constant and distinct from that of E. denalii. Apparently correlated with the habitat, plants of E. purpuratus almost always develop a relatively long and slender, woody taproot; taproots of E. denalii apparently are less well defined and often are not collected. Plants of the type collection of Erigeron mexiae have ray corollas with relatively broad laminae (1.5–2 mm wide); ray corolla width is variable in E. denalii, and E. mexiae is regarded here as an extreme variant within the species. In other characters, there appears to be no difference. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 341. | FNA vol. 20, p. 303. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. nudiflorus | E. mexiae, E. purpuratus var. dilatatus |
Name authority | A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 68. (1849) | A. Nelson: Amer. J. Bot. 32: 289. (1945) |
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