Flora of North America species comparison

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Antennaria microphylla

Antennaria virginica

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

shale barren pussytoes
Habit Dioecious. Dioecious.
Plants

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

4–25 cm.
Stolons

1–5 cm.

2–8 cm.
Basal leaves

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

1-nerved, spatulate to cuneate-oblanceolate, 10–25 × 3–9 mm, tips mucronate, faces greenish gray, moderately pubescent.
Cauline leaves

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

linear, 4–20 mm, not flagged (apices acute).
Involucres

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

staminate 3.8–6 mm; pistillate 5–7 mm.
Corollas

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

staminate 2.2–3.5 mm; pistillate 2.8–4.5 mm.
Phyllaries

distally bright white to light yellow.

distally white or stramineous.
Heads

6–13 in corymbiform arrays.

3–6(–9) in corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

0.7–1.2 mm, glabrous or sparingly papillate;

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

0.8–1.3 mm, slightly papillate;

pappi: staminate 2.8–4(–5) mm; pistillate 3.5–5.2 mm.
2n

= 28.

= 28, 56.

Antennaria microphylla

Antennaria virginica
Phenology Flowering early–mid summer. Flowering early–mid spring.
Habitat Moist open areas, flood plains of streams, margins of alkaline depressions, lower montane to subalpine (subarctic) Devonian shale barrens and argillaceous soils derived from them, open deciduous woods and fields
Elevation 0–3200 m (0–10500 ft) 300–600 m (1000–2000 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
MD; OH; PA; VA; WV
[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.)

G. L. Stebbins (1936) and R. J. Bayer and Stebbins (1982) maintained that Antennaria virginica is a distinct species. After previously recognizing the taxon as a variety of A. neglecta, A. Cronquist (1945; H. A. Gleason and Cronquist 1991) agreed. It is a sexual progenitor of the A. howellii complex and is most closely related to A. howellii subsp. neodioica (Bayer 1985). Antennaria virginica is dioecious and is characterized by its relatively small, spatulate, basal leaves and subulate-tipped cauline leaves, which separate it from A. neglecta and the gynoecious A. howellii complex (Stebbins 1935; Bayer and Stebbins).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 407. FNA vol. 19, p. 403.
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. parvifolia, A. plantaginifolia, A. pulchella, A. pulcherrima, A. racemosa, A. rosea, A. rosulata, A. soliceps, A. solitaria, A. stenophylla, A. suffrutescens, A. umbrinella
Synonyms A. bracteosa, A. microphylla var. solstitialis, A. nitida, A. rosea var. nitida, A. solstitialis A. neglecta var. argillicola, A. neodioica var. argillicola, A. virginica var. argillicola
Name authority Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 24: 303. (1897) Stebbins: Rhodora 37: 230, figs. 1, 2. (1935)
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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