Erigeron L.

Herbs, annual or perennial, erect or prostrate. Leaves alternate, sessile, entire, dentate or trilobed. Heads heterogamous, solitary or few in a loose raceme. Involucre campanulate; bracts 2 - 3-seriate, narrow. Ray florets female, many, usually in 2 or more series, with prominent ligules. Disc florets tubular, 5-lobed, bisexual. Anther bases obtuse. Receptacle flat or convex, naked. Achenes ellipsoid or narrowly obovoid, compressed. Pappus thin, setose, scabrous, often double.

Cosmopolitan, especially N. American; ca 200 species, 14 in India.

Literature. BURTT, B.L. (1948). On Erigeron bonariensis L. Kew Bull. 3: 369-372. CRONQUIST, A. (1943). The separation of Erigeron from Conyza. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 70: 629. 632. HOFFMAN (1890). Engler & Prantl, Pflanzenf. IV. 5: 164. RECHINGER, K.H. (1986). Compositae-Astereae Erigeron. Fl. Iranica 15-33

KEY TO THE SPECIES

1a. Herbs, prostrate

5. Erigeron karvinskianus

b. Herbs, erect or semierect

2

2a. Heads trimorphic

3

b. Heads dimorphic

7

3a. Heads 2-2.5 cm in diam

4

b. Heads 0.5-1.8 cm in diam

6

4a. Cauline leaves obovate to spathulate

12. Erigeron sublyratus

b. Cauline leaves lanceolate to ovate-oblong

5

5a. Inflorescence racemose; ligule white

10. Erigeron roylei

b. Inflorescence corymbose or panicle; ligule usually purplish

1. Erigeron acer

6a. Ligules 4-5 mm long

11. Erigeron semibarbatus

b. Ligules 6-9 mm long

6. Erigeron kumaonensis

7a. Heads usually solitary

8

b. Heads usually more than one

12

8a. Heads 1.5-2 cm in diam.

9

b. Heads more than 2 cm in diam.

10

9a. Leaves entire

7. Erigeron monticolus

b. Leaves subentire

2. Erigeron angustissimum

10a. Herbs, more or less glabrous, up to 30 cm high

4. Erigeron bellidioides

b. Herbs, hirsute or pubescent, up to 60 cm high

11

11a. Heads up to 2.5 cm in diam.

13. Erigeron uniflorus

b. Heads up to 5 cm in diam.

8. Erigeron multiradiatus

12a. Herbs, greyish; heads 5-7.5 cm across

14. Erigeron wightii

b. Herbs, not greyish; heads usually up to ca 4.5 cm across

13

13a. Inflorescence corymbiform panicle

3. Erigeron annuus

b. Inflorescence solitary or few, usually in axillary panicles or on slender scape like stem

14

14a. Flowers white

9. Erigeron pusillum

b. Flowers usually purplish

15

15a. Herbs, usually up to 16 cm high, glabrous or sparsely hairy

7. Erigeron monticolus

b. Herbs, 16-60 cm high, hirsute or pubescent

8. Erigeron multiradiatus

List of Lower Taxa