Erigeron argentatus

Silver fleabane

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Silver fleabane is a California native perennial found in the western desert mountains and northeastern desert mountains in the Last Chance Range, growing on rocky slopes and in pinyon and juniper woodland at elevations of 2,000 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces lavender to blue flowers with white or pink ray petals in heads 12 to 22 millimeters wide, with ray flowers 10 to 16 millimeters long. Growing 10 to 40 centimeters tall with an unbranched stem from a woody taproot, it forms dense clusters and is densely covered in silvery hairs. Its basal leaves are erect and persistent, narrowly oblanceolate and generally 2 to 5 centimeters long, with scattered smaller leaves along the lower two-thirds of the stem. The fruit is 6 to 8-ribbed and densely hairy, with pappus bristles 25 to 40 in number.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, pinyon/juniper woodland

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 2000-2300 m

Bioregions: W&ampI, ne DMtns (Last Chance Range)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.