''Erigeron cavernensis '' is a
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
n species of flowering plants in the family
Asteraceae
Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
known by the common name lone fleabane. It has been found only in the State of
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
in the
western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau.
As American settlement i ...
, on ridges, cliff faces, and rocky outcrops at high elevations in the mountains of
Nye and
White Pine Counties.
''Erigeron cavernensis '' is a very small
perennial
In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
herb up rarely more than 6 cm (2.4 inches) tall, forming clumps of many individuals close together. Most of the leaves are low and close to the ground. Each stem produces only one
flower head
A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...
, with 12–24 white, pink or lavender
ray florets
Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fa ...
plus numerous yellow
disc floret
Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fa ...
s.
[Flora of North America, ''Erigeron cavernensis '' S. L. Welsh & N. D. Atwood, lone fleabane]
/ref>[Welsh, Stanley Larson & Atwood, Nephi Duane 1988. Great Basin Naturalist 48(4): 495–496]
References
cavernensis
Flora of Nevada
Plants described in 1988
{{Erigeron-stub