Volcanic daisy

Erigeron linearis (Hooker) Piper var. elegantulus (Greene) J. T. Howell

Perennials, 3–15 cm; taprooted, caudices branched. Stems erect to slightly basally ascending, sparsely white-strigose, eglandular. Leaves mostly basal (usually persistent); blades linear, 15–50(–60) × 0.5–1 mm, cauline reduced and only on proximal ¹ / 3 of stems (bases abruptly widened, thickened, white-indurate, sheathing stems), margins entire, faces loosely strigose. Heads 1. Involucres 3.5–5 × 6–11 mm. Phyllaries in 3–4 series, sparsely and loosely strigose, eglandular. Ray florets 15–25; corollas blue to pale lavender or pinkish, 6–9 mm, laminae weakly coiling. Disc corollas 3.4–5 mm. Cypselae 1.8–2 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 20–30 bristles. 2n = 27.

Flowering Jun–Jul. Open rocky sites, especially in volcanic substrate, sagebrush-scrub, juniper woodland, montane coniferous; 1000–2700 m; Calif., Oreg.