About Erigeron divergens Torr. & A.Gray
Erigeron divergens, commonly known as spreading fleabane, is a flowering plant species in the family Asteraceae that is native to western North America. This species is highly variable in form. It is an annual or perennial herb that grows from a taproot, and sometimes also from a caudex. It produces between one and many stems that reach 7 to 70 centimeters (3 to 27 and a half inches) in height. The whole plant is hairy, and the hairs are usually glandular, at least near the top of the stem. Its basal leaves are 1 to 7 centimeters (half an inch to 3 inches) long, while leaves growing higher on the stem are smaller. It flowers from April to September. Its inflorescence can hold over 100 flower heads, each about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) wide. Each head has 75 to 150 ray florets that are no more than 1 centimeter long; the ray florets are white, fade to purple, and are sometimes completely absent. Many yellow disc florets grow at the center of each head. The fruit of Erigeron divergens is seed-like, about 1 millimeter (one sixteenth of an inch) long, with bristles at the tip. This species exhibits agamospermy, a form of asexual reproduction that produces seeds. Many, though not all, individuals of this species are polyploid. There are many similar species that are both part of the same genus and belong to other genera. Erigeron divergens is found across the western half of the United States, reaching as far east as western Texas, in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, and in the Mexican states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo León, and Sonora. It grows in many different habitat types, including desert shrublands and scrubs, grassland, meadows, pinyon-juniper woodland, oak and pine woodlands, riparian habitat, sagebrush, and disturbed areas. The plant had a number of uses in traditional Native American medicine. The Navajo used it as an aid during childbirth, as a lotion, as an eyewash, and as a treatment for snakebite and headache. The Kiowa people used it as a good luck charm.
