''Erigeron irazuensis'' is a Central American
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
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 has been found only in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
.
[
''Erigeron irazuensis'' is a perennial herb up to 25 cm (10 inches) tall, producing a branching underground ]caudex
A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695
In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...
. Stems are sometimes erect (standing straight up) but other times recumbent (reclining on the ground or leaning on other vegetation). Leaves are moderately hairy, some produced close to the ground plus others higher on the stem. The plant produces 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 ...
on long, thin stalks. Each head contains 38-55 white or pink ray florets surrounding numerous yellow disc floret
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 ...
s.[Nesom, G.L. and J.F. Pruski. 2011. Resurrected species of ''Erigeron'' (Asteraceae: Astereae) from Central America. Phytoneuron 2011-36: 1–10.]
includes distribution map on page 9
References
External links
irazuensis
Flora of Costa Rica
Plants described in 1904
{{Erigeron-stub