E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Erigeron aureus Greene
golden fleabane (alpine yellow fleabane; golden daisy)
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #30078)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Erigeron aureus
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.



General:
Perennial herb from a branching, thickened stem-base; stems erect, several, simple, finely hairy with short, appressed or loose hairs, 1.5-15 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves abruptly contracted to stalked, with broad, elliptic to egg-shaped or almost round blades, entire, 0.5-8 cm long, 4-13 mm wide, hairy like the stems; stem leaves few, reduced and narrow.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, solitary, the disks 7-16 mm wide; involucres 5-8 mm tall; involucral bracts loose, equal, leafy and sometimes tinged with red, sparsely to densely long woolly-hairy, the hairs sometimes with purple cross-walls; ray flowers mostly 25-70, yellow, 6-9 mm long, 1.4-2.5 mm wide; disk flowers 3.5-5.0 mm long.
Fruits:
Achenes hairy, 2-nerved; pappus double, inner of 10-25 bristles, outer of short bristles or narrow scales.
Notes:
Tonestus (Haplopappus) lyallii, a somewhat similar alpine species, is easily distinguished from Erigeron aureus by its abundance of glands.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry meadows from the upper montane to alpine zones; common in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; E to SW AB and S to N WA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Erigeron aureus

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

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 622 2261 2675
Slope Gradient (%) 0 33 97
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
9 213 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
0 2 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
148
Modal BEC Zone Class
ESSF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: AT(30), BAFA(1), BG(3), CMA(2), ESSF(64), IMA(29), PP(1)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is alpine tundra & boreal.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References