Plant Image
Flower heads


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Erigeron modestus - plains fleabane

Synonyms: Erigeron lobatus, E. lobatus var. warnockii, E. plateauensis, E. warnockii
Other Common Names: prairie fleabane, marsh fleabane
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Asteraceae


   
 
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Plant
Desert Botanical Gardens Herbarium Collection, Usage rights: Attribution-Non-Commercial(CC BY-NC)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Perennial   Similar Species: Egerion flagellaris, E. tracyi
General Desc: Starts out as a low, hairy-leaved clump of white daisy-like flowers on leafless stalks rising above the foliage. Lower leaves wither and stem leaves appear on branched stalks. Later in the season, the plant takes on a sprawling habit and curves downward.
Identification notes: Plants slender, small-leaved, multiple stems from base; stems branched, glandular, hairy; leaves highly dissected, pointed at the base, often spatula-like; stems leafy from the base; flower discs <1/2 inch wide; ray flowers white, dry to light purple.
Height: To 1-1/3 feet


Habitat

Habitat Description: Dry, rocky, gravelly sites with sandy, clayey, chalky, or granite soils. Sometimes found on deep sandy hills or in open areas, hillsides, slopes, roadsides, meadows, brushlands and desert scrublands. Often found in pinyon-juniper-oak woodlands.
Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 600 - 7550 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: White, yellow center, ages light purple     Shape: Daisy or dandelion-like not in clusters     Tubular: N     Flowering Period: Apr - Jun
Description: Flower heads to 3/4 inch wide with as many as 170 (often 24 to 65) petal-like white flowers (ray florets) around a center of numerous tiny yellow flowers (disc florets); buds, pink nodding; the back of the ray florets often have a tinge of reddish-purple.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Smooth     Leaf Attachment: Basal and alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Stems covered with loose, flat to shaggy hairs. Basal leaves wither at blooming time and are broader than the very narrow stem leaves which are 2 inches long, 1/8 inch wide and gradually reduced on the upper stem with margins that are smooth or toothed.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Color: Light yellowish-brown   
Fruit Type: Achene
Fruit Notes: Fruit is dry, flat, less than 1/16 inch long, has an oblong to egg-shaped, broader at tip, with 2 ribs and a slight covering of short, stiff, flat hairs on its surface. There are tufts of slender white hairs and bristles at its top.
Seed Notes: 1 seed is produced by the fruit. Fruit does not split open at maturity to release the seed. Bristles on top of the seed promote wind dispersal.



  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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