Hyssop-leaf fleabane, vergerette à feuilles d’hysope

Erigeron hyssopifolius var. anticostensis Victorin & J. Rousseau; E. hyssopifolius var. villicaulis Fernald

Perennials, 5–35 cm; rhizomatous, fibrous-rooted, caudices sometimes branched. Stems erect, sparsely and loosely strigose to strigoso-villous, eglandular. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline much reduced or present as scales; cauline blades linear to linear-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 10–30 × 1–5 mm, largest at midstem, then relatively even-sized to peduncles, margins entire, sometimes prominently ciliate, faces glabrous or sparsely villous. Heads 1(–5). Involucres 4–6 × 6–12 mm. Phyllaries in 2–3 series, loosely and sparsely strigose, eglandular. Ray florets 20–50; corollas white, less commonly pinkish, or aging pinkish, 4–8 mm, laminae not coiling or reflexing. Disc corollas 3–4.6 mm. Cypselae 1.3–1.6 mm, 5–6-nerved, faces glabrous; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 25–35 bristles. 2n = 18.

Flowering Jun–Aug. Open woods, river gravel, rock ledges and crevices, gravel barrens, roadsides; 0–500 m; Alta., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Maine, Mich., N.H., N.Y., Vt.

Variety villicaulis, from Anticosti Island (Quebec) and Newfoundland, has been distinguished on the basis of its relatively shorter stature (mostly 3–15 cm) and greater ratio of peduncle to leafy-stem lengths (stems and peduncles as long as or longer than the leafy parts of stems); the distinction appears to be arbitrary.