Dioecious or gynoecious (staminate plants uncommon or in equal frequency as pistillates, respectively). Plants 2-8(-15) cm. Stolons 1-6 cm. Basal leaves 1-nerved, narrowly spatulate to spatulate or oblanceolate, 8-35 × 2-15 mm, tips mucronate, faces gray-tomentose. Cauline leaves linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 8-20 mm, not flagged (apices acute). Heads 2-7 in corymbiform arrays. Involucres: staminate 5.5-7.5 mm; pistillate 8-10(-15) mm (gynoecious), 7-7.2 mm (dioecious). Phyllaries distally white, pink, green, red, or brown. Corollas: staminate 3.5-4.5 mm; pistillate 5-8 mm. Cypselae 1-1.8 mm, glabrous or minutely papillate; pappi: staminate 4-5.5 mm; pistillate 6.5-9 mm. 2n = 56, 84, 112, 140.

Flowering late spring-summer. Prairies, pastures, roadsides, mountain parks, open deciduous woods, and drier coniferous forests, usually ponderosa or lodgepole pine; 100-3400 m; Alta., B.C., Man., Ont., Sask.; Ariz., Colo., Idaho, Iowa, Mich., Minn., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., N.Dak., Okla. (expected in panhandle), Oreg., S.Dak., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wis. (expected), Wyo.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Nuevo León).

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Dwarf perennial herbs, to 8 cm tall, tomentose, not stipitate glandular, with wooly stolons; individuals staminate or pistillate, generally occurring equally in populations, however occasionally only pistillate individuals will be present.

Leaves: Leaves mostly in a basal rosette, 1-nerved, obovate to spatulate, 5-9 mm wide, persistently tomentose abaxially, margins entire, caulescent leaves reduced, linear to oblanceolate, with acute apices.

Flowers: Small discoid heads, staminate or pistillate, whitish, staminate corollas tubular, 5-toothed, pistillate corollas filiform, 8-10 mm or more high, involucres strongly graduated, phyllaries thin, membranaceous, distally white, pink, red, or brown, borne in corymbiform clusters in groups of 2-7 at the stem tips.

Fruits: Achenes small, the pappus of the pistillate flowers of copious capillary bristles, pappus of the staminate flowers of clavellate, slightly flattened bristles.

Ecology: Found in pastures, prairies, roadsides, parks, open woods, and drier coniferous forests, from 5,000-12,000 ft (1524-3658 m); flowering May-August.

Distribution: This widespread species ranges from Manitoba to British Columbia, south to New Mexico and central Arizona.

Notes: Pussytoes! Look for this species under Antennaria aprica. The keys to this species are the pistillate heads 8-10 mm or more high, the non-glandular inflorescence, and the abaxially tomentose leaves 5-9 m wide.

Ethnobotany: This species was used in a variety of preparations to treat swellings, as a blood purifier, for the mad coyote bite, and as protection against witches, and the young leaves were used as greens.

Etymology: Antennaria is from Latin antenna, because the flowers look like insect antennae, while parvifolia means small-leaved.

Synonyms: Many, see Tropicos

Editor: LCrumbacher 2011

Similar to no. 1 [Antennaria microphylla Rydb.], but commonly appearing stouter, with larger, mostly closely aggregated heads, and on the avg with larger, relatively broader lvs; plants seldom over 15 cm; basal lvs spatulate or oblanceolate, 1-3.5 cm נ2.5-10 mm; pistillate invols 7-11 mm, the bracts usually blunt, the scarious part bright white or less often dull white, seldom pink; dry pistillate cors 5-8 mm; sexual or apomictic; 2n=56, 84, 112, ca 140. Dry, open places; w. Minn. to Man., B.C., and Ariz. May-July. (A. aprica)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.