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• Erigeron acris

Erigeron acris — bitter fleabane

Facts

Bitter fleabane is a circumboreal species with a northern distribution that dips down into Northern Maine, where it may rarely be found in forest clearings and river banks.

Habitat

Forest edges, forests, shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bract color

  • the bracts are colored, or at least tinged with, pink, red or purple
  • the bracts are not colored or tinged with with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  • there are three or more cycles of bracts
  • there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces, with hairs having glands (a swelling at the tip of the hair)

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are elliptic (widest near the middle and tapered towards the base and tip)
  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip shape

  • the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)
  • the tips of the bracts are acuminate (tapered to a narrow point)

  Bract width

  0.5–1

  Bracts

  the bracts in separate cycles are similar or gradually changing from the outer to inner cycles

  Disk flower color

  yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Flower head number

  • each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it
  • each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head position

  some or all the flower heads are grouped in clusters of two or more

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is conical across the top
  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  Flower head shape

  • the flower head is hemispherical (like the bottom half of a sphere)
  • the flower head is shaped like a cone with the point up

  Flower head width

  10–25 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Flowering stem width

  1–6 mm

  Height of flower head base

  5–12 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  • the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile
  • the inflorescence is not flat-topped but appears rounded, with some flower heads distinctly higher than others

  Inflorescence stem

  hairs are present on the stem of the inflorescence

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  30–150

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary is compressed (flattened)

  Ovary hair type

  • the ovary has hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands
  • the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has hairs on it

  Ovary lines or ribs

  there are two lines or ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  • in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)
  • in profile, the ovary is roughly egg-shaped, but widest above the middle

  Peduncle hair type

  the hairs on the peduncles have glands at their tips

  Peduncle hairs

  the peduncles are hairy

  Ray flower color

  • blue to purple
  • pink to red
  • white

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both

  Ray flowers

  more than 50

  Ray length

  2.5–7 mm

  Reproductive system

  some of the flowers on the plant have only carpels or stamens, while others have both carpels and stamens

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is a cycle of much smaller bracts outside the cycle of larger and longer bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Width of flower head base

  8–22 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  11 or more

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1.6–2.5 mm

  Seed hair tuft color

  the pappus hairs are white or off-white

  Seed hair tuft length

  0.2–6 mm

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  • the plant is biennial, it appears as either first year (non-reproductive) plants or second year plants with flowers or fruit
  • the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there is a thickened taproot on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  • alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem
  • the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant (basal)

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has a distinct petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  • NA
  • the leaf blade has hairs with glands at their tips

  Leaf blade length

  20–140 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has three main veins running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  3–18 mm

  Leaf disposition

  • the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem
  • the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  Maine

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • forests
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  • the hairs are pressed flat against the plant, pointing either towards the plant's tip or towards it's base
  • the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair type

  the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled

  Stem internode hairs

  • the stem has hairs between the nodes
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae