Erigeron speciosus |
Erigeron flagellaris |
|
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aspen fleabane, showy daisy, showy fleabane, splendid fleabane |
trailing fleabane, whiplash daisy |
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Habit | Perennials, 30–80(–100) cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudices relatively thick. | |
Stems | erect, glabrous or sparsely hirsuto-pilose (hairs 0.5–1 mm), often minutely glandular distally. |
first erect (greenish proximally; usually single, simple), then producing herbaceous, leafy, prostrate runners (usually with rooting plantlets at tips, populations often becoming clonal mats), strigose (often sparsely; hairs antrorsely appressed, consistent in orientation), sometimes slightly glandular distally. |
Leaves | 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). |
basal (often persistent) and cauline; basal blades broadly oblanceolate to elliptic, 20–55 × 3–9 mm; cauline abruptly reduced distally, margins entire or dentate, faces strigose, eglandular. |
Involucres | 6–9 × 11–22 mm. |
3–5 × 6–13 mm. |
Ray florets | 75–150; corollas blue to lavender, rarely whitish, 8–16 mm (mostly 1 mm wide), laminae slightly coiling at least at tips. |
40–125; corollas white, often with an abaxial midstripe, often drying lilac, 4–10 mm, laminae not coiling or reflexing. |
Disc corollas | 4–5 mm. |
2–3.5 mm. |
Phyllaries | in 2–3(–4) series, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirsuto-pilose, minutely glandular. |
in 2–3 series, strigose to loosely hirsute, minutely glandular. |
Heads | (2–)4–20 in corymbiform arrays. |
1(–3, on proximal branches). |
Cypselae | 1.5–1.8 mm, 2(–4)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 20–30 bristles. |
0.8–1.3 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 10–17 bristles. |
Biennuals | or short-lived perennials, 3–15 cm; usually fibrous-rooted, sometimes taprooted, caudices lignescent, rarely branched. |
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2n | = 18, 27, 36, 45, 54. |
|
Erigeron speciosus |
Erigeron flagellaris |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | Flowering May–Aug(–Sep). |
Habitat | Dry or moist, gravelly or loamy soil, prairies, yellow pine, pine-fir, spruce-fir, aspen-spruce | Meadows and grassy slopes, often moist, open areas in grasslands, pinyon pine, oak-pine, pine, aspen, and spruce-fir |
Elevation | (600–)900–3400 m ((2000–)3000–11200 ft) | (1700–)2100–3600 m ((5600–)6900–11800 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; KS; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico
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Discussion | 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.) |
Early season forms of Erigeron flagellaris may consist of a basal rosette and a single, erect, scapiform, monocephalous stem; leafy runners usually develop quickly. Many polyploids of this species are indistinguishable from diploids; some polyploids have features suggestive of genetic influence of E. tracyi. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 330. | FNA vol. 20, p. 341. |
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 | E. nudiflorus |
Name authority | (Lindley) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 284. (1836) | A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 68. (1849) |
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