[Members of the Sunflower Family with Daisy-like Heads of Mt. Adams]
Fleabanes or Daisies on Mt. Adams

The Genus Erigeron

Cut-leaf Daisy: Erigeron compositus

1. Northern Daisy, Bitter Daisy: Erigeron acris ssp. debilis -

2. Bitter Fleabane: Erigeron acris ssp. politus -

3. Cutleaf Daisy, Cut-leaved Daisy, Dwarf Mountain Fleabane, Fernleaf Fleabane: Erigeron compositus var. glabratus -

4. California Rayless Daisy, Rayless Fleabane: Erigeron inornatus -

5. Desert Yellow Daisy: Erigeron linearis -

6. Peregrine Fleabane, Mountain Daisy: Erigeron glacialis var. glacialis (Erigeron peregrinus ssp. callianthemus var. callianthemus) -

7. Showy Fleabane: Erigeron speciosus var. speciosus (formerly Erigeron subtrinervis var. conspicuous) -

Fleabanes can be identified from asters fairly easily by looking at the involucral bracts. Those of fleabanes are generally all of the same length while those of asters are of differing lengths and thus are overlapping like shingles. Generally, the fleabanes have numerous narrow ray flowers (those of the mountain daisy seen above are an exception) while those of the asters are fewer in number and broader. Fleabanes generally tend to bloom earlier than the asters, but this is harder to use as a classifying characteristic as I often see both genera in bloom side by side. The photo shows mountain daisy (Erigeron glacialis ssp. glacialis) along the Stagman Ridge Trail at the southwest corner of Mt. Adams................July 27, 2006.
Paul Slichter E-mail