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Canadian Fleabane

Canadian Fleabane

Erigeron canadensis

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How common: Very common

Invasive alien species

Canadian Fleabane is a slim, upright annual from North America. It often forms tall, narrow towers of many tiny, pale flower heads. You can spot it on open, disturbed ground such as roadsides, railways and sandy or gravelly sites. It spreads widely by wind‑borne seeds.

Did you know?

  • Its seeds have a white tuft that lets them fly far on the wind and even in the slipstream of traffic.
  • It can be as small as about 5 cm or reach around 1 m tall, depending on the site.

About the species

Identification

Slim, upright annual, 5–100 cm. Stem green with fine pale hairs; usually straight and unbranched low down, sometimes branching near the top. Leaves crowded along the stem, narrow and long-tapered with a few small teeth; edges feel slightly rough from short hairs; lower leaves wither early. The flower cluster is a tall, narrow plume with dozens to hundreds of tiny button-like heads; each head has a barely visible pale fringe, so it looks more fuzzy than petalled. After flowering, tiny seeds carry a white fluff. Compare: Blue fleabane has fewer, larger heads with clear white petals and a more open, branched top. Flowers in Finland from July to September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow, yards and roadsides

Flowering

Jul–Sep

About the habitat

Likes sunny, open and dry, disturbed places: roadsides and tracks, railway edges, loading areas, sand pits and various waste grounds. It tolerates drought well as long as the place is bright and open. Common in southern and central Finland.

Sources

Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, Nova, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erigeron canadensis Przymiotno kanadyjskie 2021-08-15 Sołtysowice 02.jpg

Text: Pinkka: IPS-177 Fennoscandian flora - Epilobium-Hieracium, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39750

Text: FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39750

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanadankoiransilm%C3%A4

See also