Antennaria rosea
Antennaria alpina
Antennaire rosée, rosy everlasting, rosy pussytoes
alpine catsfoot, alpine pussytoes
4–30 cm.
3–18 cm.
1–7 cm.
1–7 cm.
1-nerved, 8–40 × 2–10 mm, spatulate, oblanceolate, or cuneate, tips mucronate, faces usually gray-pubescent, adaxial sometimes green-glabrous.
1-nerved, spatulate to oblanceolate, 6–25 × 2–7 mm, tips mucronate, abaxial faces tomentose, adaxial green-glabrescent to gray-pubescent.
linear, 6–36 mm, usually not flagged (apices acute to subulate or with lanceolate flags).
linear, 5–20 mm, at least mid and distal flagged.
staminate unknown; pistillate 4–10 mm.
staminate 5–6.5 mm; pistillate 4–7(–10) mm.
staminate unknown; pistillate 2.5–6 mm.
staminate 3–3.5 mm; pistillate 3.5–5 mm.
distally brown, cream, gray, green, pink, red, white, or yellow (apices acute or erose-obtuse).
distally dark brown, black, or olivaceous.
3–20 in corymbiform arrays.
2–5 in corymbiform arrays.
0.7–1.8 mm, glabrous or papillate;
pappi: staminate unknown; pistillate 3.5–6.5 mm.
1–1.8 mm, sparingly papillate;
pappi: staminate 3.5–4 mm; pistillate 4.5–6 mm.
= 42, 56, (70).
= 56, 84, 98, 112.
Antennaria rosea
Antennaria alpina
Subspecies 4 (4 in the flora).
Antennaria rosea is the most widespread Antennaria of North America, occurring in dry to moist habitats from near sea level to the alpine zone. The A. rosea polyploid agamic complex is one of the more morphologically diverse complexes of North American Antennaria. It occurs from the western cordillera of North America from southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico north to subarctic Alaska and east to Greenland and, disjunctly, in the Canadian maritime provinces, eastern Quebec, and immediately north of and adjacent to Lake Superior (R. J. Bayer et al. 1991). Antennaria chilensis (including A. chilensis var. magellanica) is a Patagonian endemic that morphologically fits within the circumscription of A. rosea and may well be an amphitropical disjunct member of the complex.
Antennaria rosea is taxonomically confusing; it includes agamospermous microspecies that have been recognized as distinct taxonomic species. Morphometric and isozyme analyses have demonstrated that the primary source of morphologic variability in the complex derives from six sexually reproducing progenitors, A. aromatica, A. corymbosa, A. pulchella, A. microphylla, A. racemosa, and A. umbrinella (R. J. Bayer 1989b, 1990b, 1990c). Additionally, three other sexually reproducing species, A. marginata, A. suffrutescens, and A. rosulata, may have contributed to the genetic complexity of the A. rosea complex (Bayer 1990b). Here, four reasonably distinct subspecies are recognized within the complex.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Antennaria alpina is one of the more morphologically variable agamic complexes in the genus. Some taxonomists have argued that true Antennaria alpina does not occur in North America, because none of the North American material exactly matches the type of A. alpina, which is from Lapland (M. O. Malte 1934; A. E. Porsild 1965). If one uses a strict typological species concept, then this is true; I recognize that this species complex is composed of innumerable apomictic clones and am circumscribing a broad species concept for A. alpina. The potential morphologic overlap between the A. media and A. alpina complexes is a major taxonomic problem. The chief difference between members of the two complexes is the presence of prominent flags on cauline leaves in A. alpina and their absence in A. media. Antennaria alpina of North America is gynoecious and characterized by its dark green to black phyllaries and conspicuous flags on the distal cauline leaves. The basal leaves vary from glabrous, as in the type material, to pubescent. The primary progenitors of the A. alpina complex include A. aromatica, A. densifolia, A. friesiana subsp. alaskana, A. friesiana subsp. neoalaskana, A. monocephala subsp. monocephala, and A. pulchella.
Excluded names:
Some Antennaria names are based on early-generation interspecific hybrids, including:
Antennaria ×erigeroides Greene = A. corymbosa × A. racemosa
A. ×foliacea Greene = A. microphylla × A. racemosa
A. ×macounii Greene = A. media × A. umbrinella
A. ×oblancifolia E. E. Nelson = A. racemosa × A. umbrinella
A. ×rousseaui A. E. Porsild = ? A. alpina × A. rosea
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Basal leaves 20–40 mm; phyllaries distally usually green, pink, red or white, seldom brown | subsp. rosea |
1. Basal leaves 8–20 mm; phyllaries distally brown, cream, gray, green, pink, red, white, or yellow | → 2 |
2. Pistillate: involucres 4–6.5 mm, corollas 2.5–4, pappi 3.5–5; cauline leaves 6–20 mm (tips subulate); phyllaries usually distally brown, sometimes cream, gray, or yellow | subsp. confinis |
2. Pistillate: involucres 6.5–10 mm, corollas 3.5–6 mm, pappi 5–6.5 mm; cauline leaves 6–19 or 9–26 mm (tips sometimes with flat, lanceolate scarious appendages); phyllaries distally brown, green, pink, red, or white | → 3 |
3. Plants 19–30 cm; cauline leaves 9–26 mm (proximalmost usually 19+ mm); heads usu- ally 6–12 | subsp. arida |
3. Plants 4–17 cm; cauline leaves 6–19 mm (proximalmost usually less than 19 mm); heads usually 3–5 | subsp. pulvinata |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
WA
