Prairie Fleabane vs Annual Fleabane
These species are visually similar and can occur together in the same habitats, and they are particularly hard to distinguish by flowers. E. annuus tends to inhabit moister, more disturbed habitats, whereas E. strigosus is more likely to be found in drier, slightly less disturbed habitats, and has a stronger preference for high pH soils.
Prairie Fleabane (Erigeron strigosus) | Annual Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) |
A common annual or biennial of sunny sites, native to much of North America, particularly abundant in the Great Plains. | A common weedy annual or biennial native to Eastern North America, and introduced along the West Coast and nearby interior regions. |
 Less numerous, smaller leaves. Foliage looks sparse. Photo © M. Squire, CC BY 4.0. |  More numerous, larger leaves. Foliage usually looks lush. Photo © Sandy Wolkenberg, CC BY 4.0. |
 Photo © rboles, CC BY 4.0. | |
 Stems, especially from the midpoint upward, are usually covered in stiff hairs pressed upwards along the stem, usually only spreading close to the base of the stem. Stems are less densely hairy on average. Photo © Evan M. Raskin, CC BY 4.0. |  Stems are covered in spreading hairs, even higher up on the stem. Stems are more densely hairy on average. Photo © Bill Keim, CC BY 4.0. |
Averages much shorter (30–70 cm) with only slight overlap. |  Can grow much taller, typically to 60–150 cm, rarely shorter. Photo © John Kees, Public Domain. |
References & External Resources
These short lists show only links helpful for ID. For a complete list of references and resources also covering other aspects of ecology, visit the links section of the full article on each plant, which is the first entry here.
