About Erigeron eatonii A.Gray
Erigeron eatonii A.Gray, commonly known as Eaton's fleabane, is a North American flowering plant species in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is native to much of the western United States, where it grows in a wide range of habitats including grassland, scrub, and woodland. The species can be found in every state of the contiguous United States west of the Rocky Mountains, though it is absent from large areas of this region, including southern California, northern Montana, and most of New Mexico. Eaton's fleabane is a small perennial daisy that grows to a maximum height between 4 and 30 centimeters (1.6 to 12.0 inches). It grows from a taproot, and produces hairy stems that may be either erect or drooping. Its leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, with three veins, covered in raspy hairs. Leaves grow both in a basal cluster at the base of the plant and along the stems. Each stem is topped by an inflorescence holding one or more flower heads, each up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) wide. The center of each flower head is packed with yellow disc florets, surrounded by a ring of short ray florets along the edge. These ray florets are bright white, and sometimes have a blue or pink tint on their undersides. Several varieties of Erigeron eatonii are recognized, with different geographic distributions: Erigeron eatonii var. eatonii is found in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming; Erigeron eatonii var. lavandulus Strother & Ferlatte is found in Idaho and Oregon; Erigeron eatonii var. nevadincola (S.F.Blake) G.L.Nesom is found in California and Nevada; Erigeron eatonii var. plantagineus (Greene) Cronquist is found in California and Oregon; Erigeron eatonii var. sonnei (Greene) G.L.Nesom is found in California and Nevada; and Erigeron eatonii var. villosus (Cronquist) Cronquist is found in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
