Philadelphia fleabane (Nash Prairie Plants List)

Philadelphia fleabane

Erigeron philadelphicus

Summary ³

Erigeron philadelphicus, the Philadelphia fleabane, is a widespread North American plant in the daisy family. Also known as common fleabane, daisy fleabane, frost-root, marsh fleabane, poor robin's plantain, skervish, and in the British Isles as robin's-plantain. It is native to North America and found there in nearly all of the United States and Canada. It is also introduced into Europe and Asia, considered an invasive weed in

Comments ⁴

Philadelphia Fleabane can be distinguished from other fleabanes (Erigeron spp.) by its clasping leaves and the greater number of ray florets on its flowerheads. Compared to Annual Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) and Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron strigosus), this plant prefers moister locations. In areas with mild winters, Philadelphia Fleabane may live longer than 2 years, although it is still short-lived. There is some variation in the characteristics of this plant across its range. These varieties are differentiated by the persistence of their basal leaves and the hairiness of their foliage. In Illinois, only the typical variety occurs. Another common of Erigeron philadelphicus is Marsh Fleabane. Return

Description ⁵

This herbaceous plant is a biennial or short-lived perennial. It is ¾–2½' tall and usually unbranched, except toward the inflorescence. Initially, there is a low rosette of basal leaves that disappears when the plant bolts during the spring. The central stem and upper stems are light green, multiangular-terete, and sparsely to moderately covered with spreading white hairs. Alternate leaves occur along the entire length of these stems, becoming smaller in size and more sparse as they ascend. These leaves are up to 3¾" long and 1¼" across; they are ovate, lanceolate, oblanceolate, or narrowly elliptic in shape. The leaf margins are often short-ciliate; upper leaves usually have entire (toothless) margins, while lower leaves are usually sparingly toothed, especially toward their tips. All of these leaves clasp the stems at their bases to a greater or less extent. Both the upper and lower leaf surfaces are light to medium green and sparsely short-pubescent to nearly glabrous. The central stem terminates in a panicle of flowerheads that is somewhat flat-headed. In addition, smaller panicles or clusters of flowerheads may develop from the axils of upper leaves. The branches and peduncles of these flowerheads are similar to the stems, except their hairs are shorter. There are often solitary leafy bracts up to 1" long where the branches of an inflorescence divide; these bracts are narrowly lanceolate. Each daisy-like flowerhead is ½–¾" across, consisting of 100-300 ray florets that surround a dense head of disk florets. The petaloid rays of the flowerhead are white (less often light pink or light violet), linear in shape, and densely distributed. The corollas of the disk florets are 2-3 mm. long, yellow, and narrowly tubular in shape. Surrounding the cup-like base of each flowerhead, there are numerous appressed phyllaries in a single overlapping series. Individual phyllaries are light green, linear in shape, and sparsely short-pubescent. The blooming period occurs from late spring to mid-summer, lasting about 1–1½ months. There is either a mild floral fragrance or none. Afterwards, this plant tends to die down for the remainder of the summer. The florets are replaced by achenes with small tufts of white bristly hair; they are distributed by the wind. The narrow achenes are 0.5–1 mm. long. The root system is shallow and fibrous, sometimes forming a small caudex on older plants. Colonies of plants occasionally occur at favorable sites. Cultivation

Sources and Credits

(c) Dan Mullen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/8583446@N05/2612700987/
(c) Jena Fuller, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsf539/4672874535/
Adapted by Amber Leung from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erigeron_philadelphicus
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29441864
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29441861

More Info

iNat Map

Family	Asteraceae
Blooms	April

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