Short-rayed Fleabane Erigeron lonchophyllus Aster family (Asteraceae)
This is such a slender plant that it is easily overlooked. The plant grows from one to twenty inches tall; its are long and narrow and its stem leaves are few, , and shorter; flowers have numerous, but very short . are in several rows, light green, and are purple on the sharp tips. Erigeron lonchophyllus is found in moist areas such as marshes, stream banks, slopes, and wet .
This plant was first collected for science by Thomas Drummond in Saskatchewan and was named Erigeron lonchophyllus by William Hooker in his "Flora Boreali-Americana" in 1834. "Lonchophylla" means "lance-leaf."
Short-lived or perhaps a , little if any (woody base of non-woody ), stems to 20" tall, sparsely to densely hairy. to , 2-4" long, 1/12 to 1/2" wide. several to many, 1/4 to 3" long and narrow. Flowerheads few to numerous, rarely solitary. overlapping, green to brown to yellow, tips commonly purple, hairy. numerous, white or pink 1/12 to 1/6" long. white, longer than the . a 2-, sparsely hairy .
meadow -- Large grass and wildflower filled area with few, if any, trees.
achene -- a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants.
For example, a rose hip holds a few achenes.
cauline leaves -- leaves growing on a stem and especially on the upper part.
disc flowers are those in the center of a sunflower or daisy. Not a ray flower.
ray flowers -- The outer petals of a sunflower or daisy are ray flowers.
Bracts are modified leaves associated with a flower.
Involucre is the name given to the circle or spiral collection
of bracts around a flower-cluster.
scree -- field of small, loose, slab rock. Common high on mountains.
basal leaves -- a leaf that grows lowest on the stem of a plant.
oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom
phyllaries -- Leaflike bracts covering the flowers before opening and remaining under the
flower after it opens. Also called "bracts". Only used with the sunflower family (Asteraceae).
A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.
spatulate -- spoon-shaped.
pappus -- Small scales, bristles or hairs at the top of the seed in Asteraceae. For example,
dandelion parachutes. Plural: pappi.
fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants.
It is formed from the ovary after flowering.
caudex -- The woody stem base of some herbaceous perennials.
alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and
are attached singly.
ray flowers -- The outer petals of a sunflower or daisy are ray flowers.
A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.
corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.
biennial -- a plant which lives for two years, producing a basal rosette of leaves
the first year and a full plant, flower, and seed the second year followed by
the death of the entire plant at the end of the second year.
