Erigeron flahellifolius Rydb. 

 Fan-leaved daisy 



A. DESCRIPTION 



1. General description: This is a low-growing daisy 

 (Asteraceae) adapted to growing in talus. Plants grow from 

 flexible, branched underground stems. The leaves are fan 

 shaped and lobed. The flower heads contain numerous tubular 

 disk flowers surrounded by a series of showy white to light 

 pink ray flowers. Slide 3 in Appendix D is a close-up of 

 plants in bud. 



2. Technical species description (quoted from Cronquist 1955): 



Perennial with a slenderly branched, diffuse caudex; 

 herbage densely glandular, nearly or quite without long 

 hairs; stem less than 1 dm tall; basal leaves 1-4 cm 

 long, cuneate-f labelliform, deeply 3- to 5-cleft into 

 cuneately 3-lobed divisions, or simply 5- to 9-lobed at 

 the apex; cauline leaves smaller and less divided, the 

 uppermost entire; heads solitary, the disk usually 10-15 

 mm wide; involucre 7-8 mm high, densely glandular; rays 

 mostly 50-70, light pink or white, about 6-8 mm long and 

 1.5-2 mm wide; pappus simple, of about 20 bristles. 



3. Diagnostic characters: Only a few species of Erigeron in 

 Montana have lobed leaves. E. flahellifolius is separated 

 from the rest by having cuneate-f labelliform (triangular-fan 

 shaped) leaves with relatively broad segments. The common E. 

 compositus may occur in the same habitat but has ternately (1- 

 4 times) lobed leaves with linear segments and a more stout 

 caudex. 



B. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION 



1. Species range: restricted to the high elevation mountains 

 of northwestern Wyoming and adjacent Montana (Hitchcock and 

 Cronquist 1973) . 



2. Montana distribution: Absaroka Mountains, Beartooth 

 Mountains, Crazy Mountains (Lesica and Shelly 1991) . 



3. Occurrences on the Gallatin National Forest: Prior to this 

 project E. flahellifolius was known from three sites on the 

 Gallatin National Forest, one on the West Boulder Plateau in 

 the Absaroka Range, and two in the Crazy Mountains. I found 

 the species in the Crazies at two locations, one near the 

 previously known population above Sunlight Lake, and one just 

 east of the Glacier Lake/ Twin Lakes Divide (hereafter called 

 "Glacier Pass") . I searched for the known occurrence above 

 Trespass Creek but could not relocate it; it is probable that 

 the plants would not have been recognizable at the early date 



