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Erigeron bellidiastrum (Pretty Daisy, Pretty Fleabane, Sand Fleabane) Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Shrublands,
sand, woodlands. Spring, summer. Erigeron bellidiastrum grows from 2-12 inches tall, often branching. Basal leaves are few to none; lower stem leaves have petioles, upper are sessile; stem and leaves are covered with soft, long, inward curved hairs (see the arrow below). Early in the growing season, E. bellidiastrum plants (such as those shown here) look very much like Erigeron divergens, but are distinguished quickly by observing several points: 1) E. divergens is usually not growing as early as E. bellidiastrum. 2) The hairs on E. divergens are not curved. 3) E. divergens has 75-150 ray florets; E. bellidiastrum has 22-70 ray florets. 4) The ray florets of E. divergens are narrower and can be longer (4-9.4 millimeters vs. 4-7.5 millimeters) than those of E. bellidiastrum. E. bellidiastrum is also quite similar to E. flagellaris, but lacks stolons, has curved hairs, and has a single vs. a double pappus. At maturity E. bellidiastrum is 3.5-30 centimeters tall: E. divergens is 12-40 cm tall. E. bellidiastrum is typically in sands at 4,000' to 5,500'; E. divergens is found in a wide variety of soils from 4,000' to 8,500'. Famed botanist, explorer, and teacher, Thomas Nuttall, collected this plant near the Platte River in 1834 and named and described it in 1841. "Bellis" means "Daisy" or "pretty" and is also the name of a genus of plants. There are various interpretations of "diastrum" ranging from "star-like" to "poor imitation of". |
Erigeron canus (Gray Daisy, Gray Fleabane, Hoary Fleabane) Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Foothills. Shrublands,
meadows. Summer. Erigeron canus grows from two to twelve inches tall in the foothills and plains. Flowers are relatively large (to about an inch in diameter) and are white or blue. In the Four Corners area, the plant occurs throughout northeast Arizona and northwest New Mexico, and it has been found in Montezuma County in the very southwest corner of Colorado. Asa Gray named this plant in 1849 from a specimen collected by Augustus Fendler near Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1846. "Canus" is Latin for "gray". |
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Erigeron canus (Gray Daisy, Gray Fleabane, Hoary Fleabane) Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Foothills. Shrublands,
meadows. Summer. |
Range maps © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Erigeron bellidiastrum Range map for Erigeron canus |