Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

There are a number of species of Fleabanes. They all have numerous rays of various colors surrounding a flat yellow disc. They are either annual, biennial or perennial, and with the number of different species, they can be in flower from late spring to fall. Eastern Daisy Fleabane is a native erect annual, growing from 2 to 4 feet high, with many leaves and long spreading hairs (without glands) on the stem. Near the top of the stem hair may be flattened. The stem usually branches below the floral array. The stem also has shallow vertical ridges.

The leaves are both basal and stem. Basal leaves are lanceolate (broadest just below the middle) to ovate in shape, with winged stalks, usually with teeth and the surface usually sparsely hairy. These wither away at flowering time. The stem leaves are alternate, more narrowly lance-like to oblong. Stem leaves usually have sharp teeth, until the inflorescence, in which they will have entire margins. Stem leaves are without stalks but do not clasp the stem and the leaf edges have white hair.

The floral array is a loose cluster of several to many stalked flowers atop the stem, usually more than 5 flower heads. Flower stalks have hair.

Flower heads have two types of flowers, an outer ring of ray florets that are pistillate only and can be fertilized; these surround the inner disc florets which are bisexual and fertile. Each head is 1/2 to 3/4 inches wide with 80 to 125 ray florets that usually have white corollas but can range into pinkish. The central disc is flat with numerous disc florets that have tubular yellow corollas with a five-lobed tip. There are five stamens that tightly surround the single style, which is exserted from the corolla when the floret opens. Disc florets open from the outside edge first. The outside of the flower head has 2 to 3 series of green phyllaries that are sparsely hairy, sometimes with minute glandular hair. Flower buds may have visible white hair.

Seed: Fertile disc florets produce a dry seed (a cypsela), 0.8 to 1.0 mm long, 2 nerved, that has a fluffy pappus for dispersion by the wind.

Habitat: Eastern or Annual Daisy Fleabane grows from a fibrous root system which may develop a taproot. It is found in moderately dry sunny places such as fields, roadsides, disturbed sites, in a variety of soils but competes best in poor soils. It is propagated by re-seeding. While this species is a summer bloomer, some plants may still set additional bloom in the fall. In scientific descriptions of this plant, there are known intermediates between this species and E. strigosus.

Names: The genus name, Erigeron, is derived from two Greek words, either eri, meaning 'early' or erio, meaning 'woolly', and geron, meaning 'old man'. Thus a flower that has early flowers and gray to whitish seed heads, which in some species of Erigeron look woolly white like the head of an old man (more notes below). The species name, annuus, from the Latin means 'yearly', referring to the plant living only one season. The accepted author names of the plant classification are: First to classify was '(L.)' which refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy. His work was amended by ‘Pers.’ which refers to Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1761-1836), South African born botanist, educated in Europe, maintained a large herbarium, published Synopsis Plantarum, describing 20,000 species, but best known for his work in the fungi.

Comparisons: For a comparison of the three Fleabanes found in the Garden see this page - Fleabanes.