Erigeron formosissimus |
Erigeron speciosus |
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beautiful fleabane |
aspen fleabane, showy daisy, showy fleabane, splendid fleabane |
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Habit | Perennials, 10–40(–55) cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, rhizomes variably thick. | Perennials, 30–80(–100) cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudices relatively thick. | ||||
Stems | ascending, densely hirsute to hirsutulous or glabrous, minutely glandular to stipitate-glandular. |
erect, glabrous or sparsely hirsuto-pilose (hairs 0.5–1 mm), often minutely glandular distally. |
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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). |
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). |
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Involucres | 5–8 × 10–20 mm. |
6–9 × 11–22 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. |
75–150; corollas blue to lavender, rarely whitish, 8–16 mm (mostly 1 mm wide), laminae slightly coiling at least at tips. |
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Disc corollas | 3.5–4.5 mm. |
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). |
in 2–3(–4) series, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirsuto-pilose, minutely glandular. |
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Heads | 1–6. |
(2–)4–20 in corymbiform arrays. |
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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. |
1.5–1.8 mm, 2(–4)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 20–30 bristles. |
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Erigeron formosissimus |
Erigeron speciosus |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | |||||
Habitat | Dry or moist, gravelly or loamy soil, prairies, yellow pine, pine-fir, spruce-fir, aspen-spruce | |||||
Elevation | (600–)900–3400 m ((2000–)3000–11200 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; SD; UT; WY
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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 | 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.) |
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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 334. | FNA vol. 20, p. 330. | ||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate 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 | Greene: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 121, plate 332, figs. 3, 4. (1898) | (Lindley) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 284. (1836) | ||||
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