Erigeron abajoensis

Perennials, 5-15(-24) cm; taprooted, caudices branches relatively thick and short, retaining old leaf bases. Stems ascending to decumbent (greenish proximally), usually loosely strigose (hairs ascending, attenuate, basal cells erect), uncommonly hirsute or hirtellous (hairs spreading-deflexed), eglandular. Leaves basal (persistent) and cauline; basal blades usually oblanceolate, 15-70 × 2-6(-8) mm (bases attenuate), margins entire (apices rounded to obtuse); cauline blades linear to linear-oblong or narrowly lanceolate-oblong, mostly 10-40 × 1.5-4 mm, gradually reduced distally; faces strigose, eglandular. Heads 1-4. Involucres 3.7-5.2 × (5-)10-11 mm. Phyllaries in 2-3(-4) series, strigose to strigulose or finely hirsuto-villous, minutely glandular. Ray florets 35-60; corollas blue to pink or white, 5-6 mm, laminae weakly coiling. Disc corollas 2.5-4 mm. Cypselae 1.5-2 mm, 2-nerved, faces strigose; pappi: outer of setae, inner of 12-20 bristles.

Flowering Jul-Aug. Rocky or gravelly open slopes, sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, ponderosa pine, spruce-fir; of conservation concern; (2000-)2800-3500 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Utah.

Erigeron abajoensis is a segregate of E. caespitosus, separated from the latter only by its strigose (versus hirsute) stems and leaves and greater tendency for 1-nerved leaves. Further, some populations of E. abajoensis have plants variable in orientation of stem vestiture [both antrorsely appressed and deflexed; e.g., Cronquist 9430, Garfield Co., Utah (BRIT, NY); Heil and Clifford 17919, Apache Co., Ariz. (BRIT, SJNM)] and similar variation in cauline vestiture also occurs in E. caespitosus.