A late-bloomer

Erigeron coulteri, July 22, 2020

Erigeron coulteri, July 22, 2020

Common & scientific name
Coulter’s daisy, Erigeron coulteri

Family
Sunflower, Asteraceae

Location
Lost Man trailhead, 10,500’

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).  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. 

E. coulteri, July 22, 2020

E. coulteri, July 22, 2020