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Philadelphia daisy, Philadelphia fleabane, vergerette de philadelphie

Habit Annuals, biennials, or short-lived perennials, 4–80 cm; fibrous-rooted, caudices simple.
Stems

erect (green proximally, leafy to arrays), hirsuto-villous to villous proximally, loosely strigose to sparsely hirsute distally, minutely glandular.

Leaves

basal (persistent or withering by flowering) and cauline;

basal blades oblanceolate to obovate, (15–)30–110(–150) × 10–25(–40) mm, margins shallowly crenate to coarsely serrate or pinnately lobed, faces sparsely hirsute to villous, eglandular;

cauline blades oblong-oblanceolate to lanceolate, gradually reduced distally (bases clasping to auriculate-clasping).

Involucres

4–6 × 6–15 mm.

Ray florets

150–250(–400);

corollas usually white, sometimes pinkish, 5–10 mm, laminae not coiling or tardily coiling.

Disc corollas

2.1–3.2 mm.

Phyllaries

in 2–3 series (sometimes basally connate), hirsuto-villous to sparsely hirsute or glabrous, sometimes minutely glandular.

Heads

(1–)3–35 usually in corymbiform arrays (ultimate branches arising near stem tips).

Cypselae

0.6–1.1 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose;

pappi: outer of setae, inner of 15–20(–30) bristles.

Erigeron philadelphicus

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT [Introduced worldwide in temperate areas as a weed]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Cauline leaf faces sparsely hirsute to villous
var. philadelphicus
1. Cauline leaf faces glabrous or glabrate
→ 2
2. Leaves of basal rosettes withering by flowering; salt marshes, British Columbia
var. glaber
2. Leaves of basal rosettes persistent through flowering; crevices in shale or dolomite, usually beside rivers or lakes, Ontario, Quebec, New York, and Vermont
var. provancheri
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 319.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron
Sibling taxa
E. abajoensis, E. acomanus, E. acris, E. aequifolius, E. algidus, E. aliceae, E. allocotus, E. alpiniformis, E. anchana, E. annuus, E. aphanactis, E. arenarioides, E. argentatus, E. arisolius, E. arizonicus, E. asperugineus, E. aureus, E. barbellulatus, E. basalticus, E. bellidiastrum, E. bigelovii, E. biolettii, E. blochmaniae, E. bloomeri, E. breweri, E. caespitosus, E. calvus, E. canaani, E. canus, E. cascadensis, E. cavernensis, E. cervinus, E. chrysopsidis, E. clokeyi, E. compactus, E. compositus, E. concinnus, E. consimilis, E. corymbosus, E. coulteri, E. cronquistii, E. davisii, E. decumbens, E. denalii, E. disparipilus, E. divergens, E. eatonii, E. elatior, E. elatus, E. elegantulus, E. elmeri, E. engelmannii, E. evermannii, E. eximius, E. filifolius, E. flabellifolius, E. flagellaris, E. flettii, E. foliosus, E. formosissimus, E. garrettii, E. geiseri, E. glabellus, E. glacialis, E. glaucus, E. goodrichii, E. gracilis, E. grandiflorus, E. greenei, E. heliographis, E. hessii, E. howellii, E. humilis, E. hyperboreus, E. hyssopifolius, E. inornatus, E. jonesii, E. kachinensis, E. karvinskianus, E. klamathensis, E. kuschei, E. lackschewitzii, E. lanatus, E. lassenianus, E. latus, E. leibergii, E. leiomerus, E. lemmonii, E. linearis, E. lobatus, E. lonchophyllus, E. maguirei, E. mancus, E. maniopotamicus, E. mariposanus, E. melanocephalus, E. miser, E. modestus, E. muirii, E. multiceps, E. nanus, E. nauseosus, E. nematophyllus, E. neomexicanus, E. nivalis, E. ochroleucus, E. oreganus, E. oreophilus, E. ovinus, E. oxyphyllus, E. pallens, E. parishii, E. parryi, E. peregrinus, E. petrophilus, E. pinnatisectus, E. piperianus, E. piscaticus, E. poliospermus, E. porsildii, E. pringlei, E. procumbens, E. pulchellus, E. pulcherrimus, E. pumilus, E. purpuratus, E. pygmaeus, E. quercifolius, E. radicatus, E. reductus, E. religiosus, E. rhizomatus, E. robustior, E. rybius, E. rydbergii, E. salishii, E. salmonensis, E. sanctarum, E. saxatilis, E. sceptrifer, E. scopulinus, E. serpentinus, E. sionis, E. sivinskii, E. sparsifolius, E. speciosus, E. strigosus, E. subglaber, E. subtrinervis, E. supplex, E. tenellus, E. tener, E. tenuis, E. tracyi, E. trifidus, E. tweedyi, E. uintahensis, E. uncialis, E. uniflorus, E. untermannii, E. ursinus, E. utahensis, E. vagus, E. velutipes, E. vernus, E. versicolor, E. vetensis, E. vicinus, E. vreelandii, E. watsonii, E. wilkenii, E. yukonensis
Subordinate taxa
E. philadelphicus var. glaber, E. philadelphicus var. philadelphicus, E. philadelphicus var. provancheri
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 863. (1753)
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