Erigeron gracilis

Rydberg

Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 404. 1900.

Common names: Quill fleabane
Endemic
Synonyms: Erigeron ursinus var. gracilis (Rydberg) A. Nelson
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 20. Treatment on page 336. Mentioned on page 266.

Perennials, 5–20 cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, forming diffuse systems of slender, rhizomelike caudex branches. Stems ascending (bases usually purplish), glabrous or sparsely strigose (or hairs loosely spreading), eglandular. Leaves 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. Heads 1. Involucres 5–7.5 × 10–15 mm. Phyllaries 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. Ray-florets 40–100; corollas blue to pinkish purple, 7–14 mm, laminae not coiling or reflexing. Disc corollas 4.1–5.6 mm. Cypselae 2 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 14–21 bristles. 2n = 18.


Phenology: Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat: Moist slopes, creek bottoms, sagebrush meadows
Elevation: 2200–2400 m

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Erigeron gracilis"
not tailed +, rounded +  and obtuse +
distinct +
subequal +
scarious +
usually triangular +  and linear +
usually deltate +  and lanceolate +
paniculiform +, corymbiform +  and loose +
indeterminate +  and determinate +
Guy L. Nesom +
Rydberg +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
decurrent +
linear;lanceolate oblanceolate or spatulate +
rugulose +  and muricate +
Quill fleabane +
not 2-lipped +  and actinomorphic +
blue +  and pinkish purple +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (1.4 cm14 mm <br />0.014 m <br />) +
beaked +, 2-ribbed +  and 5-ribbed +
subterete +, oblong +  and oblong-obovoid compressed +
fertile +  and bisexual +
0.41 cm4.1 mm <br />0.0041 m <br /> (0.56 cm5.6 mm <br />0.0056 m <br />) +
fertile +  and bisexual +
Idaho +, Mont. +  and Wyo. +
2200–2400 m +
pistillate +, staminate +  and neuter +
winged +  and beaked +
dispersed +
Moist slopes, creek bottoms, sagebrush meadows +
disciform +  and discoid +
in loose , corymbiform or paniculiform arrays +  and singly +
indeterminate +
heterogamous +  and homogamous +
each +  and sessile +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.75 cm7.5 mm <br />0.0075 m <br />) +
turbinate;hemispheric +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
not coiling +
petiolate +  and sessile +
cauline +  and basal +
erect;spreading +
deltate +
strigose +  and glabrous +
not +  and scarious +
2-carpellate +
Flowering Jun–Aug. +
3-nerved +  and 1-nerved +
sparsely strigoso-hirsute +  and strigose +
narrowly elliptic +  and linear-lanceolate +
Mem. New York Bot. Gard. +
bearing subulate enations +, hairy +  and bristly +
exalbuminous +
prostrate +  and decumbent +
strigose +  and glabrous +
appendaged +  and truncate +
papillate +  and smooth +
Erigeron ursinus var. gracilis +
Erigeron gracilis +
Erigeron +
species +
inflated +  and tubular +
fibrous-rooted +  and rhizomatous +
90 cm900 mm <br />0.9 m <br /> (100 cm1,000 mm <br />1 m <br />) +
5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +
tree +, shrub +  and subshrub +