Erect, moderately to densely hairy, 6–8-inch tall stems have even-sized leaves with hairy surfaces and flower heads with showy blue rays and yellow disks. Note the stem, leaf surfaces, and phyllaries are covered with short, stiff hairs.

FLOWERS: June–September. Arrays of 1–13 flower heads have 100–150 blue to lavender, petal-like ray flowers, each 3/8–3/4-inch (9–18 mm) long, 1 mm wide; phyllaries (underneath the rays) are moderately to densely hairy.

LEAVES: Basal and alternate on stem. Basal leaves, spoon-shaped, to 3-inches long (80 mm), faces with spreading hairs, usually withered by blooming. Stem leaves alternate, blades oval to lance-shaped with pointed tips, much the same size up the stem to just below the flower heads, three nerves from base of leaf, bases clasp the stem; leaf surfaces covered with coarse, stiff hairs; margins entire and lined with ciliate hairs.

HABITAT: Sandy, rocky soils, riparian, meadows, disturbed areas; pinyon-juniper, oak-ponderosa, spruce-fir, aspen forests.

ELEVATION: 5,900–10,600 feet.

RANGE: CO, ID, MT, NE, NM, ND, SD, UT, WA, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The look-alike Showy Fleabane, E. speciosus, in much the same habitat and range, has hairless leaf surfaces and phyllaries. Broad-leaf Fleabane, E. vreelandii, is covered with long, sticky, glandular hairs (use lens).

NM COUNTIES: Western half of NM at mid- to high elevations: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.