Erigeron muirii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Erigeron
Species:
E. muirii
Binomial name
Erigeron muirii
Synonyms[1]
  • Aster muirii (A.Gray) Onno
  • Erigeron grandiflorus subsp. muirii (A.Gray) Hultén

Erigeron muirii, or Muir's fleabane, is a rare Arctic species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It has been found only in northern Alaska and the northern Yukon Territory, including Herschel Island in the Arctic Ocean.[2][3] It grows in tundra, dry slopes, and rock outcrops.[4][5]

Erigeron muirii is a small perennial herb rarely more than 12 cm (5 inches) high, covered with thick wool that gives it a gray-green appearance, spreading by means of underground rhizomes. The plant generally produces only one flower head per stem, the head containing sometimes as many as 100 ray florets surrounding numerous yellow disc florets.[6][7]

Erigeron muirii was discovered by noted conservationist John Muir near Cape Thompson, Alaska during his travels there in 1881. Muir sent the plants he collected to his friend and botanist Asa Gray, who determined that the Erigeron was a new species, which he named in honor of Muir.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ The Plant List, Erigeron muirii A.Gray
  2. ↑ Rare Vascular Plants of the North Slope - Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of the Interior Archived 2015-09-06 at the Wayback Machine, Erigeron muirii on pages 45-48, with photos, Alaskan distribution map, description, information on ecology and conservation
  3. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map
  4. ↑ Cody, W. J. 1996. Flora of the Yukon Territory i–xvii, 1–669. NRC Research Press, Ottawa.
  5. ↑ Welsh, S. L. 1974. Anderson's Flora of Alaska and Adjacent Parts of Canada i–xvi, 1–724. Brigham Young University Press, Provo.
  6. ↑ Cody, William J. National Research Council of Canada (ed.). Flora of the Yukon Territory. NRC Research Press. p. 579. ISBN 978-0-660-18110-3.
  7. ↑ Flora of North America, Erigeron muirii A. Gray, 1882. Muir’s fleabane
  8. ↑ Muir, John; Terry Gifford (1996). John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings. The Mountaineers Books. pp. 276–277. ISBN 978-0-89886-463-2.
  9. ↑ Gray, Asa 1882. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 17: 210–211 diagnosis in Latin, commentary in English


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