Erigeron lonchophyllus
Short-rayed fleabane
Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native
Short-rayed fleabane is a California native perennial herb found in the Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, and White and Inyo Mountains in meadows and creek banks at elevations of 1,800 to 3,550 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces white ray flowers barely 2 to 3 millimeters long, which barely extend beyond the purple-tipped involucre. Growing with unbranched stems 4 to 20 centimeters tall, it has a fibrous root system and is sparsely to densely covered with soft bristly hairs. Its basal leaves range from 2 to 8 centimeters long, gradually becoming smaller and more linear toward the stem, with ciliate edges and sparse to spreading hairs. The plant forms clusters of 1 to 12 inconspicuous flower heads in a raceme-like arrangement, with involucres 4 to 7 millimeters tall.
Habitat: Meadows, creek banks
Bloom period: Jul-Aug
Elevation: 1800-3550 m
Bioregions: SN, SnBr, W&I
California counties: Inyo, Fresno, Mono, San Bernardino, Tulare, Tuolumne, Lassen, Contra Costa, Madera, Modoc, El Dorado, Mariposa, Kern, Alpine
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.