Purple cushion daisy flowers - June

Purple cushion daisy - Erigeron poliospermus

Purple cushion daisy flowers and leaves

Cushion daisy is also knows as purple cushion fleabane, so named in the belief its leaves are a bane, or poison, to fleas. Its genus, Erigeron, is derived from Greek words for old man, and spring. The species has inch-long rays colored purple to pale violet, and its relatively narrow leaves are covered with short, stiff hairs.

Compare to the related threadleaf daisy.