Ontario Weeds: Philadelphia fleabane

Table of Contents

1. Name
2. Other Names
3. Family
4. General Description
   • Photos and Pictures
5. Stems and Leaves
6. Flowers and Fruit
7. Habitat
8. Similar Species
9. Related Links

Name: Philadelphia fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus L.,

Other Names: vergerette de Philadelphie, vergerolle de Philadelphie, érigéron de Philadelphie

Family: Composite or Aster Family (Compositae) 

General Description: Perennial, reproducing by seed, stolons and basal offsets.

Photos and Pictures

Stems & Leaves: Stems, erect, 30-100cm (12-40in.) high, soft-hairy; first leaves in spring in a rosette, elongated, broadest near the tip and narrowed gradually towards the base, with a few shallow teeth and often curled under along the edges; lower stem leaves similar but shorter and with somewhat broader bases, alternate (1 per node); middle and upper stem leaves progressively shorter, stalkless, usually broadest near the tips and tapering gradually to broad bases which usually clasp the stem.

Flowers & Fruit: Flower heads similar in size and shape to Annual fleabane but usually with pinkish to light purplish ray florets and yellow disk florets. Flowers from June to late autumn.

Habitat: Philadelphia fleabane occurs throughout Ontario in pastures, waste places, roadsides, and occasionally in gardens and cultivated fields.

Similar Species: It is distinguished by its perennial habit, its rosette and lower stem leaves broader near their tips and tapering towards the stem, its upper stem leaves broader near their bases and strongly clasping the stem, and its flower heads with usually pinkish to light purplish ray florets.

Related Links

... on general Weed topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control

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