Here is a tiny gem from the Sierra Nevada range. Erigeron pygmaeus is a high elevation daisy usually found above tree line on exposed screes. It has a limited distribution from eastern CA and extremely western NV.
I came across this intensely colored little daisy while hiking up Slide Mountain just south of Reno. I was seeking Eriogonum lobbii to photograph and for some reason I was distracted from my goal when the corner of my eye caught a flash of purple.
This plant is all of 2.5" (6.3 cm)across and 1.5" (3.8 cm)tall in flower. The gray subspatulate foliage 1/2" (1.2 cm) tall. The stout tap root is about 4"-6" (10.6 - 15.25 cm) long.
The color of the Phyllaries is one of the easyest keys to identification. They are purplish with a little green showing toward the midway point.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066663
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=3164
