Photo at right of stem
and basal leaves of subalpine daisy from the Bowman Trail, Eagle Cap
Wilderness..........July 26, 1997.
Subalpine daisy is a very attractive perennial wildflower suitable for moist, meadow-like gardens. It is a fibrous-rooted perennial with one or more erect stems rising up to 70 cm high from short, thick rhizomes. On larger forms, the stems are noticeably leafy while smaller forms may lack stem leaves. The hergbage is usually green due to a lack of hairs, although the involucre may contain small gray hairs. The basal leaves are simple and oblanceolate with wide petioles with entire margins. The stem leaves are large but become reduced in size upwards on the stem. They are oblanceolate, elliptical, or ovate in shape transitioning to short, linear blades. The stem leaves have thicker petioles which clasp the stem.
The flower heads are solitary or in small clusters at the tips of the stems. The 30-80 ray flowers are purple to rose-purple in color and range from 8-25 mm long and 2-4 mm wide. The yellow central disk ranges from 10-25 mm wide. The involucre ranges from 7-11 mm high with many narrow, linear bracts about 1 mm wide, al loosely arranged and roughly equal in length.
Foreign fleabane may be found in moist meadows, along streams, or in moist open forests in the mountains from elevations of 2100-3700 meters.
Subalpine Daisy may be found from The aleution Islands south along the Alaskan and British Columbian coast to Washington and hence south in the mountains through the Pacific Northwest to the mountains of California. It extends eastward to the Rocky Mts. where it is found northwards to about 56¾N and southwards to Utah and northern New Mexico.
In the Columbia River Gorge, foreign fleabane may be found at an elevation of 4000' in the vicinity of Silver Star Mt..