''Erigeron pulchellus'', the Robin's plantain, blue spring daisy or hairy fleabane, is a North American species of plants in the family
Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of the United States and Canada from
Québec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
and
Ontario south as far as eastern
Texas and the
Florida Panhandle
The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...
.
Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
/ref>
''Erigeron pulchellus'' is a perennial herb up to 60 cm (2 feet) tall, spreading by means of underground rhizomes
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
. It produces 1-9 flower heads
A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...
per stem, each head containing sometimes as many as 100 white, pink, pale blue, or pale purple ray florets surrounding many yellow disc florets. The species grows in forests, roadsides, and the banks of bodies of water.[Flora of North America, ''Erigeron pulchellus'' Michaux, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 124. 1803. Hairy fleabane ]
/ref>
;Varieties[
*''Erigeron pulchellus'' var. ''brauniae'' Fernald - Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia
*''Erigeron pulchellus'' var. ''pulchellus'' - most of species range
*''Erigeron pulchellus'' var. ''tolsteadii'' Cronquist - Minnesota
]
References
External links
''Erigeron pulchellus''
United States Department of Agriculture plants profile
pulchellus
Flora of North America
Plants described in 1803
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