Corpus Christi fleabane

Aster procumbens Houstoun ex Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Aster no. 32, plate 58, fig. 2. 1768; Erigeron myrionactis Small

Perennials, 5–40+ cm; apparently taprooted, initially producing basal rosettes from roots or simple caudices, herbaceous, leafy runners abruptly evident. Stems ± prostrate (rooting at nodes), hirsute to hirsutulous, eglandular. Leaves basal (commonly persistent) and cauline; blades oblanceolate to spatulate or cuneate, 20–40(–80) × 5–25 mm, cauline even-sized and evenly spaced, margins usually coarsely serrate or crenate (distal teeth 2–5 pairs), faces hirsuto-villous, eglandular. Heads 1 (on terminal or axillary, scapiform, hirsuto-villous peduncles 5–25 cm). Involucres 6–8 × (8–)10–16 mm. Phyllaries in 2–3(–4) series, hirsute to villous, minutely glandular. Ray florets 225–350; corollas usually white, sometimes pinkish, 5–7 mm, laminae (filiform) tightly coiling. Disc corollas 3.5–4.5 mm. Cypselae 0.7–1 mm, 2-nerved, faces sparsely strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 12 (ray) or 16–23 (disc) bristles. 2n = 18.

Flowering (Feb–)Mar–Jun(–Jul). Coastal or near-coastal localities, wet depressions between dunes to drier, open, sandy roadsides, occasionally on mudflats, around salt marshes; 0–20 m; La., Tex.; Mexico (Tamaulipas, Veracruz).