Flora of North America species comparison

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Antennaria microphylla

Antennaria parvifolia

little-leaf pussytoes, pink pussytoes, rosy pussytoes, small pussytoes, white pussytoes

little-leaf pussytoes, Nuttall's pussytoes, small-leaf pussytoes
Habit Dioecious. Dioecious or gynoecious (staminate plants uncommon or in equal frequency as pistillates, respectively).
Plants

9–30 cm (stems stipitate-glandular distally).

2–8(–15) cm.
Stolons

1–5 cm.

1–6 cm.
Basal leaves

1-nerved, spatulate, 6–16 × 2–6 mm, tips mucronate, faces silvery gray-pubescent.

1-nerved, narrowly spatulate to spatulate or oblanceolate, 8–35 × 2–15 mm, tips mucronate, faces gray-tomentose.
Cauline leaves

linear, 5–25 mm, not flagged (apices acute).

linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 8–20 mm, not flagged (apices acute).
Involucres

staminate 5–6.5 mm; pistillate 5.5–7 mm.

staminate 5.5–7.5 mm; pistillate 8–10(–15) mm (gynoecious), 7–7.2 mm (dioecious).
Corollas

staminate 2.5–3 mm; pistillate 3–4.3 mm.

staminate 3.5–4.5 mm; pistillate 5–8 mm.
Phyllaries

distally bright white to light yellow.

distally white, pink, green, red, or brown.
Heads

6–13 in corymbiform arrays.

2–7 in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

0.7–1.2 mm, glabrous or sparingly papillate;

pappi: staminate 3–4 mm; pistillate 3–5 mm.

1–1.8 mm, glabrous or minutely papillate;

pappi: staminate 4–5.5 mm; pistillate 6.5–9 mm.
2n

= 28.

= 56, 84, 112, 140.

Antennaria microphylla

Antennaria parvifolia
Phenology Flowering early–mid summer. Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat Moist open areas, flood plains of streams, margins of alkaline depressions, lower montane to subalpine (subarctic) Prairies, pastures, roadsides, mountain parks, open deciduous woods, and drier coniferous forests, usually ponderosa or lodgepole pine
Elevation 0–3200 m (0–10500 ft) 100–3400 m (300–11200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; IA; ID; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; ON; SK; Okla (expected in panhandle); Wis (expected); Mexico (Chihuahua, Nuevo León)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Antennaria microphylla is a primary sexual progenitor of the A. rosea polyploid agamic complex (R. J. Bayer 1990b). A. Cronquist (1955) included A. rosea within his circumscription of A. microphylla. It is preferable to recognize sexual diploids as distinct from their morphologically discrete hybrid apomictic derivatives. Antennaria microphylla is always dioecious and has stems distally stipitate-glandular and white phyllaries; A. rosea is always gynoecious and has stems without glandular hairs and phyllaries only occasionally white.

Some authors (A. E. Porsild 1950; E. H. Moss 1959; Porsild and W. J. Cody 1980) have recognized A. nitida as distinct; comparisons of the nomenclatural types of the two show that they are conspecific. Antennaria microphylla has allelopathic properties (G. D. Manners and D. S. Galitz 1985).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Antennaria parvifolia is a widespread, polyploid complex of sexual (dioecious) and asexual (gynoecious) populations (G. L. Stebbins 1932b; R. J. Bayer and Stebbins 1987). Although variable morphologically, no infraspecific taxa seem warranted at this time. Sexual (dioecious) populations are known primarily from New Mexico and Colorado; apomictic plants occur throughout the range of the species. Probable sexual diploid/tetraploid progenitors of the A. parvifolia complex include A. dioica, A. marginata, A. neglecta, and A. pulchella/A. media. Antennaria parvifolia is characterized by relatively short stature and relatively small numbers of relatively large heads. The epithet parvifolia has been rendered as “parviflora” in floras, e.g., key in Great Plains Flora Association (1986); E. H. Moss (1959); H. J. Scoggan (1978–1979, part 4). In some floras, A. parvifolia has been confused with A. microphylla; the two are probably not closely related.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 407. FNA vol. 19, p. 406.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Antennaria Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Antennaria
Sibling taxa
A. alpina, A. anaphaloides, A. arcuata, A. argentea, A. aromatica, A. corymbosa, A. densifolia, A. dimorpha, A. dioica, A. flagellaris, A. friesiana, A. geyeri, A. howellii, A. lanata, A. luzuloides, A. marginata, A. media, A. monocephala, A. neglecta, A. parlinii, A. parvifolia, A. plantaginifolia, A. pulchella, A. pulcherrima, A. racemosa, A. rosea, A. rosulata, A. soliceps, A. solitaria, A. stenophylla, A. suffrutescens, A. umbrinella, A. virginica
A. alpina, A. anaphaloides, A. arcuata, A. argentea, A. aromatica, A. corymbosa, A. densifolia, A. dimorpha, A. dioica, A. flagellaris, A. friesiana, A. geyeri, A. howellii, A. lanata, A. luzuloides, A. marginata, A. media, A. microphylla, A. monocephala, A. neglecta, A. parlinii, A. plantaginifolia, A. pulchella, A. pulcherrima, A. racemosa, A. rosea, A. rosulata, A. soliceps, A. solitaria, A. stenophylla, A. suffrutescens, A. umbrinella, A. virginica
Synonyms A. bracteosa, A. microphylla var. solstitialis, A. nitida, A. rosea var. nitida, A. solstitialis A. aprica, A. aprica var. aureola, A. aprica var. minuscula, A. aureola, A. dioica var. parvifolia, A. holmii, A. latisquamea, A. minuscula, A. recurva, A. rhodantha
Name authority Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 24: 303. (1897) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 406. (1841)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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