About Erigeron floribundus (Kunth) Sch.Bip.
Erigeron floribundus (Kunth) Sch.Bip. is a tall annual or biennial plant that reaches up to 1.5 m in height, with rather hairy stems and a large number of small flower heads that are approximately 5 mm tall. These flower heads are arranged in a slightly loose branched inflorescence that widens toward the top. The flower heads have small, non-conspicuous ray petals, which are sometimes tinged purple; the sides of the flower heads are approximately hairless, and have 5 to 6 (rarely up to 7) inner phyllaries across. Its leaves have projecting hairs at the base and forward-pointing hairs at the tip that tend to lean toward the leaf margin, while the leaf surfaces only have sparse hairs. A similar globally widespread species with hairless flower heads is Erigeron canadensis. E. canadensis has short but conspicuous ray petals, which are always white (not sometimes purple-tinged), and its inflorescence is rather cylindrical, rather than widening toward the top. The bases of E. canadensis leaf margins usually have more long projecting hairs, the forward-pointing hairs at the leaf margin tips do not turn inward toward the leaf blade, and the side phyllaries of its flower heads are more numerous (8 to 12, instead of 5 to 7). Photographs of this species are available from collections taken in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its native distribution ranges from South America to Mexico, and it has been introduced to many other parts of the world, including Western Europe, central-western Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
