Broad fleabane

Erigeron poliospermus A. Gray var. latus A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride, Bot. Gaz. 55: 383. 1913

Perennials, 3–8 cm; taprooted, caudices branched. Stems erect, sparsely hirsuto-villous (hairs equal), densely minutely glandular. Leaves mostly basal (persistent; petioles prominently ciliate, hairs spreading, thick-based); blades oblanceolate-spatulate to oblanceolate, 30–60 × 3–6 mm, cauline usually abruptly reduced distally, margins entire, coarsely ciliate, faces hirsute to hirsuto-villous, densely minutely glandular. Heads 1. Involucres 8–10 × 10–20 mm wide. Phyllaries in 2–3 series, sparsely hirsuto-villous, densely minutely glandular. Ray florets 15–25; corollas pinkish to purple, 7–10 mm, laminae coiling. Disc corollas 4.5–6 mm. Cypselae 3.5–4.5 mm, 2(–3)-nerved, faces sparsely strigose to glabrate; pappi: outer sometimes of setae, sometimes 0, inner of 20–27 bristles.

Flowering May–Jul(–Aug). Flat to gently sloping, open sites with shallow, gravelly soils over bedrock, volcanic sands and cinder, often with sagebrush or sagebrush-juniper, rhyolitic riparian areas; 1400–2200 m; Idaho, Nev.