About Aster biennis (Lindl. ex DC.) Ledeb. ex Franch.
Dieteria canescens, previously classified as Machaeranthera canescens, is an annual or short-lived perennial plant in the Asteraceae family. It is commonly known as hoary tansyaster and hoary-aster, and its specific epithet "canescens" translates to "gray-hairy".
This species is native to western and central North America. Its natural range extends from the Pacific Coast to the western Great Plains, spanning from British Columbia in the north south to California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, and east to Saskatchewan, the Dakotas, and Oklahoma. A small number of isolated populations also occur in Iowa and Minnesota.
Among the Zuni people, an infusion made from the whole plant of the subspecies canescens, variety canescens is rubbed on the abdomen to act as an emetic.
Ten recognized varieties of Dieteria canescens have documented ranges: Dieteria canescens var. ambigua (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico; Dieteria canescens var. aristata (Eastw.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah; Dieteria canescens var. canescens grows in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, as well as Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming; Dieteria canescens var. glabra (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, and Chihuahua; Dieteria canescens var. incana (Lindl.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in Nebraska, South Dakota; Dieteria canescens var. leucanthemifolia (Greene) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in California, Nevada, Utah; Dieteria canescens var. nebraskana (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in Nebraska, South Dakota; Dieteria canescens var. sessiliflora (Nutt.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in Idaho; Dieteria canescens var. shastensis (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in California, Nevada, Oregon; Dieteria canescens var. ziegleri (Munz) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. grows in the Santa Rosa Mountains of Riverside County, California.
