Erigeron acris L.
bitter fleabane
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
bitter fleabane
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Erigeron acris var. kamtschaticus
Species Information
General:
Biennial or perennial herb; stems erect, solitary to several, branched above, often spreading stiff-hairy, 20-80 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves oblanceolate or spoon-shaped, stalked, usually entire, 1-15 cm long, 1-14 mm wide; stem leaves ample or strongly reduced, egg-shaped to linear-oblong, becoming unstalked, usually entire.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, several to numerous on nonglandular to glandular stalks in a flat- or round-topped inflorescence; involucres 5-12 mm tall; involucral bracts lanceolate, finely glandular and/or stiff-hairy, generally subequal, green or more or less purplish; ray flowers numerous, although sometimes inconspicuous, in several series, of two types, the outer with a long threadlike tube and narrow pink to purplish or white erect ray flowers, these about 2.5-4.5 mm long, the inner female flowers rayless or nearly so with a tubular corolla; disk flowers 4.2-6.2 mm long, tubular.
Fruits:
Achenes sparsely hairy, 2-nerved; pappus of about 25-35 slender, remotely finely-barbed, white or more or less reddish bristles, surpassing the disk flowers.
Notes:
Three varieties occur in BC.
1. Stalks of the heads and involucres glandless, or nearly so............... var. elatus (Hook.) Newsom
1. Stalks of the heads and involucres more or less glandular.
2. Plants usually 30-80 cm tall; heads several to numerous............... var. asteroides (Andrz. ex Bess.) Newsom
2. Plants usually 2-30 cm tall; heads several or solitary............... var. debilis (A. Gray) Newsom
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Erigeron acris
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1060 | 670 | 1589 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
14 | 0 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
184 | 18 | 295 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
8 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
PP | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
ESSF(1), IDF(2), MS(1), PP(3), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Wetlands in the montane and subalpine zones (var. elatus), mesic meadows and forest openings in the montane zone (var. asteroides), and moist meadows in the subalpine and alpine zones (var. debilis); all frequent throughout BC; var. asteroides - circumpolar, N to AK and S to OR and UT; Eurasia; var. debilis - N to AK, YT and NT, E to AB and S to UT and CA; var. elatus - N to AK, YT and NT and E to NF.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Trimorpha acris (L.) Newsom