Asteraceae

Sunflower Family

Erigerons

• Erigerons have numerous narrow-ray flowers. They mostly are white, pink, violet or blue.
• Cut-leaf Daisy grows in tufts. The leaves are mainly basal and are divided into 3 lobes. It is found in gravelly soil at middle elevations.
• Coulter Daisy has white rays. The phyllaries are dark because of the dark cross walls on the hairs. It is found in aspen and spruce-fir forests.
• Three-nerved Daisy has pubescent (hairy) middle and upper leaves. It is widely distributed. It may be a form of speciosus (Showy Daisy).
• Pink-headed Daisy is a tall Erigeron with many narrow pinkish rays. The involucre is very woolly with pink hairs. It is found in aspen and spruce-fir forests.
• Subalpine Erigeron has rays that are wider than most other Erigerons so has often been taken for an aster. The phyllaries are covered with club-shaped, red-tipped glandular hairs. It grows on open rocky slopes and is also found in subalpine meadows.
• Whiplash Daisy is a very small Erigeron. It may be pink in bud but is white in maturity. It develops long runners from which new plants spring up, hence the name "whiplash." It is found in the foothills and montane meadows.

Asteraceae Continued

Sunflower Family

• Tansy Aster has many branches and flowers with bright reddish-purple rays. The phyllaries are sticky with recurved tips which helps to distinguish them from true asters. It is found in the foothills.
• Common Aster has pale ray flowers that can be pink or lavender. It is found along roadsides and hillsides of the foothills and lower subalpine zones.

Asteraceae Continued

Heterotheca

• Hairy Golden Aster has stems that are much branched. It is abundant and weedy and is found on dry foothills and lower montane slopes.
• Dwarf Golden Aster is branched and has fairly-long ray flowers. It forms rounded clumps in the alpine and subalpine areas.