Cascade Fleabane

Perennials, 5–15 cm; taprooted, caudices woody, branches usually vertical or horizontal (2–10 cm), sheathed by persistent leaf bases. Stems erect, glabrous or sparsely villous, sparsely minutely glan-dular. Leaves basal (persistent) and cauline; basal blades sometimes 3-nerved, oblanceolate to obovate or spatulate, 25–90 × 5–17 mm, margins entire or dentate on distal ¹ / 2 or near apices, faces glabrous, sparsely minutely glandular; cauline blades lanceolate to ovate, smaller than basal, often relatively even-sized distally (bases clasping to subclasping). Heads 1(–3) (on branches from proximal axils). Involucres 5–8 × 8–14 mm. Phyllaries in 2–3 series, sparsely to moderately hirsuto-villous, sometimes sparsely minutely glandular. Ray florets 30–50; corollas white, less commonly purplish, 6–10 mm, laminae not coiling or reflexing. Disc corollas 3.7–4.4 mm. Cypselae flattened, 1.9–2.2 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose or glabrous; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 14–20 bristles.

Erigeron pachyrhizus Greene; E. spatulifolius Howell

Erigeron cascadensis is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Cascade fleabane. It has been found only in the state of Oregon in the northwestern United States, primarily in subalpine meadows in the Cascades mountain range.

Erigeron cascadensis is a perennial herb up to 15 cm (6 inches) tall, producing a taproot. One plant can produce several flower heads, sometimes one per branch, sometimes in groups of 2 or 3. Each head has 30–50 white or purple ray florets plus numerous yellow disc florets.