''Erigeron'' () is a large

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of plants in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. It is closely related to the genus ''

Aster Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...

'' and the true daisies in the genus ''

Bellis ''Bellis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The group is native to Europe, the Mediterranean and northern Africa. One species has been introduced into North America and others into other parts of the world. The genus ...

''. The genus has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The ext ...

in dry, mountainous areas and grassland, with the highest diversity in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Etymology

Its English name, fleabane, is shared with related plants in several other genera. It appears to be derived from a belief that the dried plants repelled

fleas Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, ar ...

or that the plants were poisonous to fleas. The generic name ''Erigeron'' is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words (''êri'') "early in the morning" and (''gérōn'') "old man", a reference to the appearance of the white hairs of the fruit soon after flowering or possibly alluding to the early appearance of the seed heads. The noun is

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...

, so that specific epithets should have masculine endings (e.g. ''glaucus'') to agree with it. However, authors have incorrectly used neuter endings (e.g. ''glaucum''), because the ending ''-on'' resembles the ending of Ancient Greek neuter

second declension The second declension is a category of nouns in Latin and Greek with similar case formation. In particular, these nouns are thematic, with an original ''o'' in most of their forms. In Classical Latin, the short ''o'' of the nominative and accusati ...

nouns, as

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candol ...

did in his 1836 account of the genus.

Description

The species may be annuals,

biennials A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Life cycle In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

, or

perennials A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

. They are well-branched with erect stems, characterized by their numerous white, lavender, or pink ray

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s and yellow disc flowers. Some members of this group have no ray flowers. The pappus (=modified calyx, forming a crown) is shorter than in ''Aster'', and consists of bristles. The ray florets are narrower than in ''Aster'', but are clearly longer than the involucre (=whorled

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s).

Cultivation

Many species are used as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

s, with numerous named

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s such as 'Wayne Roderick', 'Charity', 'Foersters Liebling', and 'Dunkelste aller' ("The darkest of all" with semidouble, deep-violet flower heads).

Ecology

''Erigeron'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species including ''

Bucculatrix angustata ''Bucculatrix angustata'' is a moth in the family Bucculatricidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from the eastern United States to Texas, Utah and Washington. The species was first described by Heinrich Frey and Jacob Bo ...

'', ''

Coleophora squamosella ''Coleophora squamosella'' is a moth of the family Coleophoridae. It is found in Europe (from Great Britain to Poland and Hungary and from Fennoscandia to France, Italy and Austria), the Baltic states, the Caucasus, Russia (Baikal and Altai) and ...

'' (which feeds exclusively on ''E. acris''), '' Schinia intermontana'', '' Schinia obscurata'' (both of which also feed exclusively on ''Erigeron''), '' Schinia sexata'' (which feeds exclusively on ''E. glabellus'') and '' Schinia villosa''.

Selected species

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

lists around 460 species of plants in the genus ''Erigeron''. Selected species include: The following names are not accepted in Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Plants of the World Online database: *''

Erigeron acer ''Erigeron acer'' is a widespread herbaceous flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Common names include bitter fleabane and blue fleabane. The species is native to Canada, colder parts of the United States, northern, central, and southeastern ...

'' – blue fleabane *'' Erigeron austiniae'' *'' Erigeron corymbosus'' – long-leaf fleabane *'' Erigeron greenei'' *'' Erigeron hultenii'' – Hulten's fleabane *'' Erigeron irazuensis''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q745253 Asteraceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus