Erigeron coulteri, July 26, 2022
Same, phyllaries
Common & scientific name
Coulter’s daisy, Erigeron coulteri
Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae
Location
Linkins Lake trail, 11,700’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
This is one of our most common late-summer daisies, blooming from the montane to the alpine in meadows and moist woodlands. It is of medium height (usually less than a foot), has bright white, very thin ray florets (petals), and has white and black hairs on the underside of its flowerhead (on its phyllaries—see photo below left). If you see a giant version of this, standing several feet tall, with fewer but wider petals, you are seeing Engelmann’s aster, another late-summer bloomer.