Erigeron radicatus |
Erigeron gracilis |
|
---|---|---|
Hooker's fleabane, Huber's fleabane, tap-root fleabane |
quill fleabane |
|
Habit | Perennials, (1–)2–6(–12) cm; taprooted, caudices branches relatively short, thick. | Perennials, 5–20 cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, forming diffuse systems of slender, rhizomelike caudex branches. |
Stems | erect, strigose to sparsely or densely short-villous (hairs loosely appressed to ascending or spreading), eglandular. |
ascending (bases usually purplish), glabrous or sparsely strigose (or hairs loosely spreading), eglandular. |
Leaves | mostly basal (persistent) (eciliate or weakly ciliate proximally); blades 1-nerved linear to narrowly oblanceolate or subspatulate, (5–)10–50(–60) × 0.8–2.5 mm (bases gradually narrowing), margins entire (apices obtuse to rounded), abaxial faces glabrate or glabrous, shiny, adaxial sparsely, loosely strigose, eglandular; cauline mostly on proximal 1/2–1/3 of stems (absent in some high elevation forms), abruptly or gradually reduced distally. |
basal (persistent) and cauline; basal (purplish) and proximal cauline blades oblanceolate to oblong, 20–40(–90) × 1–3(–5) mm, cauline reduced distally, margins entire, glabrous or sparsely strigose (or hairs loosely spreading), eglandular. |
Involucres | (3–)4–6(–8) × (5–)8–12(–15) mm. |
5–7.5 × 10–15 mm. |
Ray florets | (12–)20–44(–85); corollas white, less commonly purplish, 4–7(–8) mm, laminae coiling. |
40–100; corollas blue to pinkish purple, 7–14 mm, laminae not coiling or reflexing. |
Disc corollas | (2–)2.5–3.5(–4) mm. |
4.1–5.6 mm. |
Phyllaries | in 2–3(–4) series (subequal), villosulous to villoso-hirsutulous (hairs usually with purplish cross walls at least in basal cells), minutely glandular apically or eglandular. |
in 2–3(–4) series (margins and tips often purplish, loose, linear-lanceolate, apices spreading), sparsely strigoso-hirsute to strigose (hairs appressed or slightly loose), sometimes minutely glandular. |
Heads | 1. |
1. |
Cypselae | 2.1–2.5 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of scales, inner of (6–)7–11 (readily falling) bristles. |
2 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 14–21 bristles. |
2n | = 18. |
|
Erigeron radicatus |
Erigeron gracilis |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes, ridges, and summits, ledges and crevices, outcrops and talus, usually limestone, alpine tundra | Moist slopes, creek bottoms, sagebrush meadows |
Elevation | (1400–)1600–2800(–3400) m ((4600–)5200–9200(–11200) ft) | 2200–2400 m (7200–7900 ft) |
Distribution |
CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; SD; UT; WY; AB; SK
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ID; MT; WY
|
Discussion | Collections of Erigeron radicatus often have been identified as E. ochroleucus var. scribneri; E. radicatus is distinctive in its branched caudex, villous cauline vestiture, more reduced leaf vestiture, involucral vestiture of hairs with purple cross walls, shorter disc corollas, and relatively few, readily falling pappus bristles. Erigeron radicatus often is essentially scapiform at relatively high elevation (2700–3400 m) in Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming; more eastern populations in the Great Plains, at lower elevations (1400–2600 m), have leafier stems but are hardly different in other features. Plants of some populations in Albany and Carbon counties, Wyoming, produce atypically shorter rays. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Erigeron gracilis “differs from E. ursinus in the strigose and scarcely glandular pubescence of the involucre, narrower and less herbaceous phyllaries, narrower and on the average longer disc-corollas, simple or nearly simple pappus, narrower ligules, on the average, and ordinarily narrower and slightly hairier leaves. E. gracilis grows at lower elevations than E. ursinus, in a drier habitat, and has a much more restricted range” (A. Cronquist 1947, p. 162). The two species are sympatric in northwestern Wyoming. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 294. | FNA vol. 20, p. 336. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Erigeron |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | E. huberi, E. macounii | E. ursinus var. gracilis |
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 17, plate 122. (1834) | Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 404. (1900) |
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