Erigeron divergens

Spreading fleabane, Spreading Fleabane

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Spreading fleabane is a California native annual found in Sierra Nevada (excluding Tehachapi), Sutter Buttes, southern California mountains, Great Basin, and desert regions in desert scrub to yellow-pine forest habitats at elevations of 500 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from March to August, this plant produces white to purple ray flowers with flower heads 7 to 11 millimeters wide, typically with 75 to 150 delicate rays. Growing 10 to 45 centimeters tall with simple or branched stems that are evenly covered in short hairs, it emerges from a slender taproot. Its basal and lower stem leaves are approximately obovate, 2 to 6 centimeters long, mostly entire or sometimes pinnately lobed, and densely puberulent. The flower heads are radiate with nodding buds and have phyllaries that are evenly hairy with minute glandular surfaces.

Habitat: Desert scrub to yellow-pine forest

Bloom period: Mar-Aug

Elevation: 500-2600 m

Bioregions: SN (exc Teh), ScV (Sutter Buttes), SnGb, SnBr, SnJt, GB, D

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