COMPOSITE FAMILY 25 1 



region of great attraction for the botanist and mountain 

 climber, as is indicated by the illustration. The closely 

 huddled leaves and low stature of this species are doubtless 

 the result of insufficient heat during the growing period, and 

 especially at night, when plants ordinarily make their greatest 

 growth. This condensed habit protects many an Alpine 

 plant from the sudden changes in temperature to which it is 

 subjected. 



2. E. ursinus Eat. Stems several from the stout root- 

 stocks, 9 in. or less high, with a few reduced leaves and a 

 solitary terminal head. Leaves clustered at base, spatulate, 

 pubescent. Head naked, 1 in. across; involucre glandular and 

 long-hairy. Rays about 50, purple. — Near and above timber- 

 line on Clouds Rest, Mt. Dana, Mt. Lyell, Mt. Conness, etc. 



3. E. nevadensis var. pygmaeus Gray. Similar to E. ur- 

 sinus but leaves gray-pubescent and very narrow (linear), 

 often much crowded, the smaller head on a stem only 14 to 3 

 in. high. — Crest of the Sierra Nevada from Mt. Whitney to 

 Tahoe. Occurs in Bloody Canon and at 12,200 ft. on Mt. 

 Dana. Specimens from Rancheria Mt., 5 in. high, the leaves 



2 in. long, approach typical E. nevadensis. 



4. E. salsuginosus Gray. Stems 9 in. to 2 ft. high, the 

 leaves much smaller toward the solitary or few long- 

 peduncled heads. Lower leaves oblanceolate, obtuse, 3 to 

 8 in. long, glabrous except the margins. Heads 1*4 in. or 

 more across. Rays violet, l /2 in. long, about 50 to 70. 



This is the most showy and abundant Erigeron in the higher 

 mountains, where it grows in moist places along streams and 

 around lakes and meadows. A small form with very narrow 

 leaves is the var. angustifolius Gray. 



5. E. breweri Gray. Stems brittle, erect, 6 to 18 in. high, 

 from creeping rootstocks, bearing solitary or few heads on 

 curved peduncles. Leaves linear, or narrowly oblanceolate, 

 ^2 to 1*4 in- long, rough with short stiff spreading hairs. 

 Heads scarcely 1 in. across; involucre nearly glabrous, outer 

 bracts successively shorter. Rays only 10 to 25, violet. — 

 Yosemite Valley, Cherry Creek, etc., to Tuolumne Meadows; 

 common. 



6. E. elmeri Greene. Stems many, weak and spreading, 



3 to 9 in. long, leafy, bearing solitary or few heads. Leaves 

 linear, £4 m - or l ess ^ong, green, rough-hairy. Heads 24 in. 

 across, the bracts unequal. Rays 10 to 30, violet. Pappus 

 indistinctly if at all double. 



This beautiful and graceful Erigeron was first described 



