Arizona Wild Flowers
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BabyWhite Aster, Leucelene ericoides

BabyWhite Aster, Leucelene ericoides

BabyWhite Aster, Leucelene ericoides Native Of Kansus Found Growing On Mingus Mountain	Perennial 2 - 6 Inches Tall Flowers: May - July
BabyWhite Aster, Leucelene ericoides	BabyWhite Aster, Leucelene ericoides

BabyWhite Aster Leucelene ericoides, Aster or Sunflower Family also known as the Composite Family: ( Compositae ), BabyWhite Aster; sometimes called white aster and rose heath aster. Babywhite aster is an erect perennial 2-6 in. tall, growing from a woody branching caudex or creeping rhizomes. The stems are numerous, tufted, often glandular, and bristly hairy. The alternate leaves are simple, rarely over 1/8 in. long, linear to linear-oblanceolate, hispid-ciliate, and entire. The heads are solitary on slender branches with short white rays and a yellow disk. The fruit is an achene with appressed hairs and a copious pappus The uniqueness of the Aster or Sunflower family is that what first seems to be a single large flower is actually a composite of many smaller flowers. Erect or spreading, slender, low, much branched, 2 to 8 inches tall, covered with bristly hair. Often forms a loose tuft of many stems. Height: Up To 2 - 8 inches tall. Flowers: There are 12 to 24 white ray florets with ligules about 1/4 inch long and yellow disk florets. Sometimes the ray florets curl under and dry to a pale rose color.. Blooming Time: March - May. Leaves: The lower stem leaves are small and scale-like. The middle stem leaves are thick, linear-spatulate or awl-shaped, about .5 inch long, ascending or appressed, with margins that are often fringed with hairs. The upper stem leaves are reduced to short, linear or awl-shaped bracts. Found: Arizona. Elevation: 3500 - 5000 Feet. Habitat: Dry, open sandy or gravelly sites and rocky, eroded hillsides. Miscellaneous: Flowering Photos Taken April 29, 2003. On Mingus Mountain.