Howell’s pussytoes

not listed

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

not listed

Howell’s pussytoes (ssp. neodioica) is an evergreen woolly wildflower. It occurs in the United States from Maine to New Jersey west to Washington and Oregon, and in Canada from coast to coast north to the Northwest Territories. It is common in Minnesota. It is found in prairies, fields, pastures, woodland openings, rocky slopes, and dry shores. It grows under full sun in dry to moderately moist sandy soil.

Howell’s pussytoes (ssp. neodioica) is an erect, 6″ to 13¾″ (15 to 35 cm) tall, perennial forb that rises on a rosette of basal leaves and a flowering stem from fibrous roots. It spreads by producing above ground runners (stolons). The stolons are leafy, densely woolly, slender, and usually 1¼″ to 3″ (3 to 8 cm) long, sometimes longer. They root at the nodes, often forming colonies. The leaves along the stolons are similar to and almost as large as the basal leaves.

Basal leaves are 9⁄16″ to 1⅞″ (14 to 48 mm) long, and ⅛″ to ¾″ (2.5 to 20.0 mm) wide. The leaf blades are spatula-shaped to narrowly or broadly egg-shaped. They narrow at the base to a well-defined stalk (petiole), are pointed or rounded at the tip, and have an abrupt, short, sharp point at the tip (mucronate). There is usually just a single vein extending from the base to the tip. Sometimes there is also a pair of obscure partial veins that can best be seen on the underside. The lower surface is densely covered with white, short, matted or tangled, soft, woolly hairs. On new leaves the upper surface may be grayish-green with sparse, long, gray hairs, or bright green and almost hairless. In either case, the upper surface soon becomes hairless. The margins are untoothed. Basal leaves are often evergreen.

A flowering stem arises from the stolon of the previous year’s growth. The stem is erect, sparsely leafy, and densely covered with white woolly hairs. Stem leaves are much smaller than basal leaves. They are alternate, unstalked, linear to narrowly lance-shaped, narrowly pointed at the tip, and 3 ⁄16″ to 1¾″ (8 to 35 mm) long. There is a pointed, bristle-like extension (arista) on the middle and upper leaves, and a short, flat or inrolled, papery extension (flag) at the tip of only the leaves near the inflorescence. Middle and other upper stem leaves are not flagged. The upper and lower surfaces are densely covered with white woolly hairs.

The inflorescence is a tight, round-topped cluster (corymb) of usually 4 to 8, sometimes more, narrow flower heads at the end of the stem. Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Male plants are very uncommon. When no male plants are present, fertilization of the ovule does not take place and only female plants are produced (parthenogenesis). This results in some populations being composed entirely of female plants.

The whorl of 3 to 6 or more bracts (involucre) subtending each flower head on male (staminate) plants is ¼″ (6 mm) long. The involucre on female (pistillate) plants is ¼″ to ⅜″ (6 to 9 mm) long. The bracts of the involucre (phyllaries) are narrow, green or reddish at the base, and white or cream-colored at the tip. The outer bracts are loosely covered with woolly hairs. The flower heads have 20 to 100 white or pinkish, tubular disk florets and no ray florets. Staminate florets are ⅛″ (3.5 mm) long. Pistillate florets are ⅛″ to ¼″ (3.5 to 6.0 mm) long. Staminate plants have numerous columns of stamens protruding above the flower head.

The fruit is an elliptic to egg-shaped, 1⁄32″ to 1⁄16″ (0.9 to 1.5 mm) long, one-seeded capsule (cypsela). It is hairless and minutely bumpy (pappilate), and there is a tuft of hairs (pappus) at the tip. On staminate plants the pappus is ⅛″ (4 mm) long, on pistillate plants it is 3⁄16″ to ¼″ (5.5 to 7.0 mm) long.

6″ to 13¾″ (15 to 35 cm)

White to pinkish

Canadian pussytoes (Antennaria howellii ssp. canadensis) basal leaves have just one vien, and are green and hairless on the upper side.

Howell’s pussytoes (Antennaria howellii ssp. petaloidea) stolon leaves are smaller than the basal leaves. The basal leaves do not have distinct petioles. All of the middle and upper leaves are flagged.

Dry to moderate moisture. Prairies, fields, pastures, woodland openings, rocky slopes, and dry shores. Full sun. Sandy soil.

Mid-spring to early summer

Sources

4, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Location: Lake Shore, MN