Montane.  Woodlands.  Summer.
Little Taylor Creek Trail. August 20, 2007.

Erigeron eximius basal and lower leaves have long petioles; the blades range from two to seven inches long; stem leaves are sparse and upper stem leaves clasp the stem and are considerably reduced in size.  The basal leaves of the plants in these photographs were five to seven inches long and the stem leaves also were larger than the length given in most botanical keys.  They often considerably surpassing the internode length (the distance between the point where each leaf grows out from the stem).  (Stem leaves are said by Weber to be "little if at all longer than the internodes".)

Montane.  Woodlands.  Summer.
Little Taylor Creek Trail. August 20, 2007.

Erigeron eximius stems range from four to twenty four inches tall and are generally straight and unbranched until they reach the top where they branch into several flower heads.  You can see the typical arched branching in the bottom center of the photograph.  This plant is about eighteen inches tall. 

Montane.  Woodlands.  Summer.
Little Taylor Creek Trail. August 20, 2007.

Erigeron eximius phyllaries are green (sometimes with red-tinged tips); they range from equal in length to five different lengths (the plants I found had two or three rows --  the photograph at left shows two, maybe three different lengths of phyllaries); and the phyllaries are glandular (sticky -- you can see a few dark spots on the phyllaries in the photograph.  These are grains of sand stuck to the phyllaries).

Pappus hairs, the fine silky hairs that top each seed (not shown), are in two rows; the inner row is about three millimeters long and the outer row is so short (about a fifth of a millimeter) that it really requires a microscope to see.  The pappus hairs are tawny.

The number of rows of phyllaries and pappus hairs and their shape and color are keys to identifying members of the Sunflower Family.  One needs a good quality 10 power hand lens to carry in the field to see and enjoy these details.