Erigeron speciosus is a widespread North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae known by the common names aspen fleabane, garden fleabane, and showy fleabane.
Description E. speciosus is a perennial herb which grows up to tall, producing underground rhizomes and a woody caudex. The inflorescence generally contains 2–20 flower heads per stem. Each head contains 75–150 white, lavender or blue ray florets surrounding many yellow disc florets.Flora of North America, Erigeron speciosus. Showy fleabaneEastwood, Alice 1896. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Series 2, 6: 297 Flowers bloom from June to October.
The species is similar to E. subtrinervis, the stems and leaves of which are hairy.
Etymology The specific epithet speciosus means 'pretty'.
Distribution and habitat The species has been found in western Canada and the United States, from Alberta and British Columbia south as far as Arizona and New Mexico,Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map with some isolated populations in the Mexican state of Baja California. It grows in open coniferous forests.
References
External links Photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Colorado in 1899 — isotype of Erigeron salicinus, syn of E. speciosus Turner Photographics, Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, Erigeron speciosus, (Showy Fleabane) — photos, description, partial distribution map