Chiricahua Fleabane

Perennials, 5–15 cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, primary rhizomes slender, lignescent, sometimes herbaceous, leafy (like runners), producing terminal rosettes, apparently without central axes. Stems ascending (greenish), sparsely pilose (hairs spreading-ascending), strigose proximally, eglandular. Leaves basal (persistent) and cauline (petioles ¹ / 2 – ² / 3 lengths of blades); basal (greenish) blades spatulate, 10–60 × 3–10 mm, margins entire, faces sparsely strigose, eglandular; cauline (restricted to proximal ¹ / 2 of stems) blades lanceolate to elliptic (bases subclasping). Heads 1(–4) (from branches distal to midstem). Involucres 4–5 × 8–10 mm. Phyllaries in 3–4 series (erect, apices appressed), margins ciliate, midveins sparsely hirsute (hair cross walls not colored), densely minutely glandular. Ray florets 32–45; corollas white, 8–11 mm, laminae slightly coiling. Disc corollas 2.5–3 mm. Cypselae ca. 1.6 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 15–19 bristles.

Erigeron kuschei is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Chiricahua fleabane. It is endemic to Arizona in the southwestern United States, where it is known from two locations in the Chiricahua Mountains.

Erigeron kuschei is a rhizomatous perennial herb produces hairy stems a few centimeters tall. The leaves are spatula-shaped to lance-shaped and up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long near the base of the plant. The flower heads are lined with hairy, glandular phyllaries and contain many white ray florets each up to 1.1 cm (0.43 in) long surrounding numerous yellow disc florets.

This plant grows in shady spots on north-facing cliffs and outcrops, often in mossy spots among conifers.

The species is named for botanist J. August Kusche.