Erigeron speciosus |
Erigeron nanus |
|
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aspen fleabane, showy daisy, showy fleabane, splendid fleabane |
dwarf fleabane |
|
Habit | Perennials, 30–80(–100) cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudices relatively thick. | Perennials, 2–10 cm; taprooted, caudices with relatively short and thick branches. |
Stems | erect, glabrous or sparsely hirsuto-pilose (hairs 0.5–1 mm), often minutely glandular distally. |
erect, hispido-hirsutulous to hirsute (hairs spreading, stiff, usually of unequal lengths, relatively thick-based), minutely glandular. |
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). |
mostly basal (persistent) (petioles prominently ciliate, hairs thick-based, spreading); blades linear-oblanceolate, 20–40 × 1–2(–3) mm, margins entire, often coarsely spreading-ciliate, faces hispido-hirsute to hirsute or glabrous, abaxial sometimes glabrous, sometimes sparsely minutely glandular; cauline abruptly reduced, restricted to proximal 1/3 of stems. |
Involucres | 6–9 × 11–22 mm. |
5–8 × 7–13 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. |
15–35; corollas usually blue to purplish, rarely white, 5–10 mm, laminae coiling. |
Disc corollas | 4–5 mm. |
3.9–5.5 mm. |
Phyllaries | in 2–3(–4) series, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely hirsuto-pilose, minutely glandular. |
in 2–3(–4) series, densely villous proximally, hirsute to hirsuto-villous, minutely glandular. |
Heads | (2–)4–20 in corymbiform arrays. |
1. |
Cypselae | 1.5–1.8 mm, 2(–4)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 20–30 bristles. |
2.2–2.8 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose to glabrate; pappi: outer of setae, bristles, or scales, inner of 15–23 bristles. |
Erigeron speciosus |
Erigeron nanus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Dry or moist, gravelly or loamy soil, prairies, yellow pine, pine-fir, spruce-fir, aspen-spruce | Dry sites, ridges, rocky slopes, clay slopes, quartzite outcrops, sagebrush, pine-fir |
Elevation | (600–)900–3400 m ((2000–)3000–11200 ft) | 1900–2700(–3200) m (6200–8900(–10500) ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
|
ID; NV; UT; WY |
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.) |
Erigeron nanus is unusually variable in leaf vestiture. The tendency (especially in Cassia County, Idaho) for sparsely strigose adaxial and glabrous abaxial leaf faces is similar to that of the E. radicatus group; longer disc corollas and the strong tendency for unequal-length stem hairs, plus spreading-ciliate petioles, place E. nanus closer to E. disparipilus and E. poliospermus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 330. | FNA vol. 20, p. 285. |
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 | |
Name authority | (Lindley) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 284. (1836) | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 308. (1840) |
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