Leafy daisy, also known as fleabane aster, is an erect, leafy, herbaceous perennial, glabrous to slightly pubescent, growing from 8" to 40" tall from a stout taproot and slender caudex and branched in the upper part of the plant.  The leaves are alternate, filiform to oblanceolate, 3/4" to 2-14" long, fairly evenly-spaced and crowded around the stem.  The radiate flowering heads are somewhat numerous and solitary in open inflorescences, with involucres about 1/4" high and 3/8" to 5/8" wide.  The phyllaries are imbricated, strongly graduated in 3-5 series, barely glandular, with a raised midvein.  The 20 to 60 ray flowers are linear, blue to lavender, and the disk flowers are many and golden yellow.  There is a pappus of 20-30 slender, tawny bristles. Leafy daisy is found on dry rocky slopes and in brushy and grassy places below 5000' in coastal sage scrub, chaparral and southern oak woodland, blooming from May to July.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Erigeron 2) foliosus.
Pronunciation: er-IJ-er-on fo-lee-OH-sus.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.