Erigeron flettii |
Erigeron speciosus |
|
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Flett's fleabane, Olympic Mountain fleabane, Olympic Mountains fleabane, Olympic Mt. Fleabane |
aspen fleabane, showy daisy, showy fleabane, splendid fleabane |
|
Habit | Perennials 5–15 cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudex or rhizome branches relatively short and thick. | Perennials, 30–80(–100) cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudices relatively thick. |
Stems | basally ascending, sparsely villous to pilose, minutely glandular. |
erect, glabrous or sparsely hirsuto-pilose (hairs 0.5–1 mm), often minutely glandular distally. |
Leaves | mostly basal (persistent; petioles equaling or longer than blades); blades spatulate to oblanceolate-spatulate, 10–50 × 4–12 mm, cauline abruptly reduced distally, margins entire (apices rounded), faces sparsely hirsute or glabrous, eglandular. |
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 | 6–8 × 10–15 mm. |
6–9 × 11–22 mm. |
Ray florets | 25–40; corollas white, 7–10 mm (mostly 1–2 mm wide), laminae coiling tardily. |
75–150; corollas blue to lavender, rarely whitish, 8–16 mm (mostly 1 mm wide), laminae slightly coiling at least at tips. |
Disc corollas | 3.5–4.5 mm. |
4–5 mm. |
Phyllaries | in 2–3(–4) series (purplish throughout or at margins and tips), hirsute to hirsuto-villous (hair cross walls clear or reddish to reddish purple), minutely glandular. |
in 2–3(–4) series, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirsuto-pilose, minutely glandular. |
Heads | 1. |
(2–)4–20 in corymbiform arrays. |
Cypselae | 2–2.8 mm, 2-nerved, faces strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 15–20 bristles. |
1.5–1.8 mm, 2(–4)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 20–30 bristles. |
Erigeron flettii |
Erigeron speciosus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Aug. | Flowering Jul–Oct. |
Habitat | Ledges, crevices, ridges, rocky slopes, meadows, alpine or near timberline | Dry or moist, gravelly or loamy soil, prairies, yellow pine, pine-fir, spruce-fir, aspen-spruce |
Elevation | (1500–)1800–3200 m ((4900–)5900–10500 ft) | (600–)900–3400 m ((2000–)3000–11200 ft) |
Distribution |
WA
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AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
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Discussion | Erigeron flettii differs from E. grandiflorus in having fewer, wider, consistently white rays, broadly spatulate basal leaves with bases constricted into narrow petioles longer than the blades and apices rounded or obtuse, less dense involucral vestiture, and strongly barbellate pappus bristles. It is known only from the Olympic Mountains. (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. 323. | FNA vol. 20, p. 330. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Stenactis speciosa, E. conspicuus, E. macranthus, E. speciosus var. conspicuus, E. speciosus var. macranthus, E. subtrinervis subsp. conspicuus, E. subtrinervis var. conspicuus | |
Name authority | G. N. Jones: Bot. Surv. Olympic Penins., 244. (1936) | (Lindley) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 284. (1836) |
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