31 



C. DESCRIPTION 



1. GENERAL NONTECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Eriqeron 

 formosissimus is a small perennial herb arising 

 from a caudex anchored by a system of fibrous 

 roots. A clump of slightly hairy leaves arises 

 from the caudex. These leaves are longer than wide 

 and are shaped like a spatula with rounded ends. 

 Flowering stems arise from the center of the clump, 

 and bear one to several blue or pink daisy-like 

 heads and leaves which become smaller upwards 

 towards the flowers. Leafy bracts subtending each 

 head have many short glandular hairs and/or longer 

 hairs without glands. 



2. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Medium perennial herb from 

 a simple or branched caudex with fibrous roots; 

 stems 1-4 dm, glandular above, often spreading- 

 hirsute; basal leaves oblanceolate to oval, apices 

 rounded, petiolate to subpetiolate, up to 15 cm 

 long and 15 mm wide; cauline leaves reduced 

 upwards, becoming sessile, lanceolate to ovate; 

 heads 1-several, the disk 1-2 cm wide; involucre 5- 

 8 mm, glandular and often hirsute; rays 75-150, 8- 

 15 mm long and less than or equal to 1mm wide, 

 blue, pink, or sometimes white; disk corollas 3.5- 

 4.4 nun long; achenes 2 -nerved (adapted from 

 Cronquist 1955) . 



D. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



1. RANGE: Eriqeron f ormosissimus is found chiefly in 

 the central and southern Rocky Mountains, occurring 

 from South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming through 

 Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, and extending into 

 Mexico (Cronquist 1955) . 



2. CURRENT SITES (MONTANA): Eriqeron formosissimus is 

 recently documented (1989) from one site in 

 Montana. The species was collected in the Gallatin 

 National Forest near the headwaters of a tributary 

 to Davis Creek, in the Mill Creek drainage. 

 Location data are provided in the element 

 occurrence print-out, p. 33, and on the map, p. 34. 



3. HISTORICAL SITES (MONTANA): Five previous 

 collections of E. formosissimus have been made in 

 Montana, from 1919 to 1979. These were taken from 

 Carbon, Gallatin, and Madison counties. The 

 locations and status of these populations is 

 currently unknown. 



