Dieteria canescens
Introduction '''''Dieteria canascens''''' (formerly ''Machaeranthera canescens'') is an annual plant or short lived perennial plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names '''hoary tansyaster''' and '''hoary-aster'''. "Canescens" means "gray-hairy".
Range and habitat ''Dieteria canascens'' is native to western and central North America, from the Pacific Coast to the Western part of the Great Plains, from British Columbia south to California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, east to Saskatchewan, the Dakotas, and Oklahoma, with a few isolated populations in Iowa and Minnesota.
Growth pattern ''Dieteria canascens'' is a woolly-haired, glandular annual or perennial herb with one or more branching stems sometimes exceeding  in height.
Leaves and stems The linear to oblong leaves may reach  long near the base of the stems, their edges usually serrated or toothed.The stems are glandular with short hairs.
Flowers and fruits The inflorescence bears one or more flower heads lined with several layers of pointed, curling or curving phyllaries. The head has a center of many yellow disc florets and a fringe of blue or purple ray florets each 1 to 2 centimeters long. The fruit is an achene around 3 millimeters in length tipped with a pappus of long hairs.A number of insects can often be found in the flowers.
Uses The Zuni people take an infusion the whole plant of subspecies ''canescens'', variety ''canescens'' and rub it on the abdomen as an emetic. ;Varieties* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''ambigua'' (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''aristata'' (Eastw.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''canescens'' – Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan; Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''glabra'' (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, Chihuahua* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''incana'' (Lindl.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Nebraska, South Dakota* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''leucanthemifolia'' (Greene) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – California, Nevada, Utah* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''nebraskana'' (B.L.Turner) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Nebraska, South Dakota* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''sessiliflora'' (Nutt.) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Idaho* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''shastensis'' (A.Gray) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – California, Nevada, Oregon* ''Dieteria canescens'' var. ''ziegleri'' (Munz) D.R.Morgan & R.L.Hartm. – Santa Rosa Mountains  in Riverside County in California
References
External links * Jepson Manual Treatment* United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile* Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California