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| Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower) | |
| Flowers — color: lavender, size: 3/4", type: daisy (compound) |
Leafy Fleabane has a daisy-like flower, about 3/4" wide. The flower head holds 60–80 violet to lavender ray florets, there may be several rows. Magnification reveals some small yellow pistils extended from the floret's mouth. The center holds 100 tiny yellow-green buds as a flat disk. These bloom from the outside in, until all are open (last photo). The disk floret opens like a bell and yellow sexual parts extend 1/16" above the mouth.
A single flower blooms at the end of the main stem. May–June. Two other plants in our area have similar flowers: California aster and common sandaster. The Fleabane wins for having the most ray and disk florets of all.
Habit:
Leafy Fleabane is a perennial herb with a woody root. Six to twelve leaves form a basal rosette. The narrow leaves are oblanceolate, narrow from the base, wider near the tip. The leaf edges show many fine hairs. The main flower stem rises six to eight inches and carries half a dozen leaves, very narrow or oblanceolate.