Erigeron humilis Graham
arctic-alpine daisy (arctic alpine fleabane)
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Photograph

© Ryan Durand     (Photo ID #14325)


Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Erigeron humilis
Click here to view the full interactive map and legend

Species Information

General:
Perennial herb from a short taproot or a short, brittle, woody stem-base and often some fibrous roots; stems generally lax, erect or ascending, more or less spreading long-hairy, the hairs, especially the upper ones, usually with some purple cross-walls, 1-25 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves oblanceolate or occasionally spoon-shaped, 1-9 cm long, 1.5-11 mm wide; stem leaves reduced upwards, linear or linear-lanceolate, the lowermost abruptly sharp-pointed, the uppermost tapering to a slender tip.
Flowers:
Heads with ray and disk flowers, solitary, the disks 10-20 mm wide; involucres 6-9 mm wide; involucral bracts subequal, more or less densely long woolly-hairy, the hairs with dark purple or blackish cross-walls (rarely without or with only a few purplish crosswalls) narrow, loose, tapering to a slender tip, generally heavily tinted blackish-purple, rarely more greenish; ray flowers 50-150, white to purplish, 3.5-6 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide; disk flowers 2.4-4.8 mm long.
Fruits:
Achenes 2-nerved, more or less hairy; pappus double, the inner of about 20-30 bristles, these exceeding the disk flowers, the outer of a few short and inconspicuous scales.
Notes:
Some specimens (in or near populations of normal plants) from northern BC and YT have whitish involucral hairs that lack or have only a few purplish crosswalls (Douglas 1995). These plants are extremely difficult to separate from Erigeron uniflorus ssp. eriocephalus with which they may be hybridizing.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Illustration

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Erigeron humilis

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)
1775 475 2550
Slope Gradient (%)
23 0 85

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

162 2 355
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
3 0 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
# of field plots
 species was recorded in:
148
Modal BEC Zone Class
BAFA

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

AT(10), BAFA(59), BWBS(1), cma(1), ESSF(41), IMA(5), MH(2), SBS(5), SWB(11)

Habitat and Range

Wet to moist seepage areas and meadows in the montane to alpine zones; common throughout N BC, rare in S BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to PQ and S to MT and N WA.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Erigeron uniflorus var. unalaschkensis (DC.) Ostenf.
Erigeron unalaschkensis (DC.) Vierh.