Erigeron formosissimus var. formosissimus |
Erigeron formosissimus |
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beautiful fleabane |
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Habit | Perennials, 10–40(–55) cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, rhizomes variably thick. | |||||
Stems | densely hirsute to hirsutulous (hairs often deflexed), eglandular. |
ascending, densely hirsute to hirsutulous or glabrous, minutely glandular to stipitate-glandular. |
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Leaves | basal (persistent) and cauline; basal blades oblanceolate to oblanceolate-spatulate, 20–100(–150) × 4–10(–15) mm, margins entire, closely ciliate, faces glabrous or sparsely hirsute, sometimes sparsely glandular; cauline blades becoming ovate to lanceolate, gradually reduced distally (bases clasping). |
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Involucres | moderately to densely hirsute, minutely glandular (glands usually inconspicuous under hairs). |
5–8 × 10–20 mm. |
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Ray florets | 75–150; corollas blue to purple, rarely pink to white, 8–15 mm (ca. 1 mm wide), laminae coiling at tips or not at all. |
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Disc corollas | 3.5–4.5 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 2–3 series (greenish), glabrous or hirsuto-villous, densely minutely glandular to stipitate-glandular (glands sometimes obscured by hairs in var. formosissimus). |
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Heads | 1–6. |
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Cypselae | (1.3–)1.6–1.9 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 15–25 bristles. |
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Distal | leaves hirsuto-villous, eglandular or sometimes sparsely glandular. |
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Erigeron formosissimus var. formosissimus |
Erigeron formosissimus |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Rocky slopes, meadows, openings, pine-fir, aspen-spruce | |||||
Elevation | (1700–)1900–3400 m ((5600–)6200–11200 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; SD; UT |
AZ; CO; NM; SD; UT; WY
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Variation in vestiture of Erigeron formosissimus is complex, ranging from stems and heads glabrous and densely stipitate-glandular to stems and heads densely hairy and essentially eglandular; intermediates are found over the range of the species. The taxonomic solution of recognizing broadly sympatric varieties within a single species is biologically untenable, and some have treated this as a single entity; the variation is greater than typically occurs within a single species of Erigeron (see comments following 3. E. neomexicanus, where the situation with E. oreophilus is similar). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 334. | FNA vol. 20, p. 334. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | E. pecosensis | |||||
Name authority | unknown | Greene: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 121, plate 332, figs. 3, 4. (1898) | ||||
Web links |