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Erigeron elatus (Hook.) Greene
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TAXONOMY
 
Family: Asteraceae or Compositae
Genus: Erigeron
 
Species Synonyms: Erigeron elatus var. oligocephalus (Fern. & Wieg.) Fern.
Erigeron acris var. elatus (Hook.) Cronq.
Erigeron alpinus var. elatus Hook.
Trimorpha elata (Hook.) Nesom
Common Names: tall white fleabane
swamp boreal-daisy
 
DISTRIBUTION
 
Canada: Yukon Territory, Mackenzie District – Labrador, south to British Columbia, central Saskatchewan – western Ontario, eastern Quebec, Newfoundland
Saskatchewan: northern – central Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca –Porcupine Hills
Ecoregion: Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland, Tazin Lake Upland
 
HABITAT
 
Saskatchewan: open, moist woods and shrublands
Associated Species: black spruce, bog Labrador tea, bristle stalked sedge, dandelion hawksbeard, fowl manna grass, grass of Parnassus, great northern aster, mountain alder, roundleaf orchid, trembling aspen, white spruce
 
RARITY STATUS
 
Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):
Vulnerable
Nature Conservancy Status:
G5 T5
Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:
None
COSEWIC Status:
None
 
Tall white fleabane is only somewhat regionally restricted in Saskatchewan and no immediate threats are known or anticipated for this species.
 
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
 
Height: 10 – 30 cm tall
Roots: fibrous; rhizome
Stems: thin, hairy, not glandular
Leaves: basal and on the stem; basal leaves long-stalked, 3 – 7 cm long, to 1 cm wide, spatula shaped, inversely lance-shaped upwards, hairless to short, stiff hairs, margin entire; stem leaves sessile, reduced upwards, inversely lance-shaped to linear, hairless to short, stiff hairs, margin entire
Inflorescence: heads few in terminal clusters, occasionally solitary; stalks erect ascending or spreading; stalks and bracts with short hairs; bracts subequal, shorter than petals, to 0.7 cm long, 0.5 mm wide, lance-shaped, green with dry margins and tips; receptacle naked
Flowers: ray flowers many, 2 – 3 mm long, < 1 mm wide, inconspicuous, purple or white; many rayless female flowers present between ray and disc flowers; disc flowers perfect, slender petals
Fruits: achenes 2-nerved, sparsely hairy; pappus of 25 – 35 capillary bristles, may have a few short bristly hairs
 
ERIGERON SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN
 
1 Leaves dissected
E. compositus
1 Leaves not dissected
2
   
2 Rays absent or inconspicuous (< 6 mm, if greater than 6 mm long, < 1 mm wide)
3
2 Rays present (> 6 mm)
9
   
3 Bracts hairless
Conyza canadensis var. canadensis
3 Bracts hairy and/or glandular
4
 
4 Bracts glandular, may be sparsely hairy
5
4 Bracts pubescent, but not glandular
6
 
5 Several to many heads; densely glandular bracts
E. acris ssp. politus
5 Head solitary; somewhat glandular bracts
E. acris ssp. debilis
 
6 Pappus double
7
6 Pappus single
8
 
7 Bract hairs flattened, stem hairs appressed
E. strigosus var. septentrionalis
7 Bract hairs rounded, stem hairs appressed to ascending
E. strigosus var. strigosis
 
8 Leaves shorter than stalks of flower heads; inflorescence branched, occasionally solitary; rayless female flowers present between ray and disc flowers
E. elatus
8 Leaves sometimes exceeding lower heads in inflorescence; inflorescence unbranched; occasionally solitary; rayless female flowers absent
E. lonchophyllos
 
9 Plants < 20 cm high; heads few to solitary
10
9 Plants > 20 cm high; heads 2 – many
12
 
10 Leaves usually basal only; flowers white
E. radicatus
10 Stem leaves present; flowers yellow to white or purple
11
 
11 Leaves 3 – 7 cm long, with 1 – 3 stem leaves; flowers yellow to white or lavender
E. ochroleucus var. scribneri
11 Leaves 1 – 3 cm long, many stem leaves; flowers purple or white
E. hyssopifolius
 
12 Stems without leaves or with bract-like leaves
E. pumilus
12 Stems distinctly leafy, often reduced upwards
13
 
13 Ray florets coloured
14
13 Ray flowers white
16
 
14 Stem leaves largest at the middle of stem
E. hyssopifolius
14 Stem leaves reduced upwards
15
 
15 Leaves clasping and with ear-like lobes
E. philadelphicus var. philadelphicus
15 Leaves not clasping or with ear-like lobes
E. glabellus var. glabellus
 
16 Stem leaves largest at the middle of stem
E. hyssopifolius
16 Stem leaves reduced upwards
17
 
17 Perennial with woody persistent base of stem, tough rhizome, or thick taproot
18
17 With neither deep-well developed rhizomes nor woody stem bases, at most a short rhizome or stolons
19
 
18 Persistent woody base of stem; stem leaves 5 – 7
E. glabellus var. glabellus
18 Thick taproot; stem leaves > 10
E. caespitosus
 
19 Pappus of ray and disc florets unlike (pappus of rays single)
E. annuus
19 Pappus of ray and disc florets alike
E. asper