ANTENNARIA 



ANTENNARIA. DWARF EVERLASTING. PUSSY- 

 TOES 



Antcnndria plantaginifdlia 



Antenndria, named from the resemblance of the sterile 

 pappus to the antennae of certain insects. 



Perennial. Woolly herbs that appear as broad white 

 patches of leaves carpeting dry fields, hillside pastures, 

 and open woods in early spring. Newfoundland to Alaska, 

 southward to North Carolina, Kansas, Nebraska. Abun- 

 dant in northern Ohio. April, May. 



Stem. — Downy or woolly; the erect flowering stems six 

 to eight inches high; leafy runners spread in all directions. 



Leaves. — Silky, woolly when young, at length green 

 above and silvery beneath; those of the flowering stems 

 alternate, small, lanceolate; the basal leaves are obovate or 

 oval, rather large, petioled, three-ribbed, white at first. 



Flower-heads. — Composite, small, silky-haired, silvery 

 white, borne in clusters at the summit of the stem; each 

 small head has an involucre of greenish white bracts; 

 florets all tubular, and the heads of two kinds; some 

 bearing only pistillate florets, others only staminate 

 florets, the two kinds usually in separate patches; in- 

 volucre bracts of the pistiUate florets are narrow and acute 

 at apex, of the staminate florets obtuse at apex. 



When the well known spring flowers are all in the 

 race, two white-coated groups, brothers and sisters, 

 may be found in many open, woodsy places, in rocky 

 fields, or on gravelly knolls, holding their own and seen 

 from afar. These are the staminate and pistillate 

 plants of the Dwarf Everlasting, the spring Antennaria, 

 which lift their stems and bear their flowers in April. 

 These patches begin to appear in March, the leaves 



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