Pearl everlasting, a bunched or loosely tufted perennial herb of 

 the aster family, also called pearly everlasting, cudweed, Indian- 

 tobacco, and life everlasting, is often confused with the related 

 pussytoes (Antennaria spp.), plants which also produce everlasting 

 flowers. The most obviously distinguishing characters are as fol- 

 lows : pearl everlasting does not have the above-ground creeping stems 

 (stolons) or the tufts of basal leaves which are characteristic of most 

 of the pussytoes; the stem leaves of the pussytoes are usually few 

 and often small, those of pearl everlasting are numerous and equal. 



Anaphalis margaritacea, including its varieties, is the only species 

 of the genus of any range importance. The distribution of the 

 species, as given in the botanical manuals, is very wide, ranging from 

 Newfoundland to North Carolina, Kansas, California, and Alaska. 

 It is native also in northern Asia and is said to be naturalized in 

 Europe. As far as the western range country is concerned, how- 

 ever, pearl everlasting is represented almost entirely by the two 

 varieties, occidentalis and suibalpina. The variety occidentals 

 ranges from California to Washington and perhaps to Alaska, at 

 low and medium elevations ; it is found chiefly in. the mountains of 

 California and Oregon. The variety subalpina (often given specific 

 rank under the name A. subaipina in western manuals) is, as its 

 name indicates, more typical of higher mountain elevations and 

 occurs in all the 11 far- western States. The name A. margaritacea, 

 as used in western botanical literature, undoubtedly refers in large 

 part to the variety subalpina. 



Very frequently pearl everlasting is found growing in dense 

 stands in burned-over and cut-over areas; in the Northwest it is 

 one of the most vigorous invaders of such areas, owing to the circle 

 or tuft of very fine straight hairs (pappus) which carries the "seed" 

 long distances. The widely creeping underground rootstocks and 

 fibrous, spreading root system qualify pearl everlasting to increase 

 rapidly after becoming established. The plants also occur on shaded 

 hillsides, semidry slopes, openings in timber stands, banks of streams, 

 and in parks, mountain meadows, and basins. 



Although pearl everlasting produces numerous leaves on its stems and 

 is often abundant, it is not an important forage plant, perhaps because the 

 herbage is often so densely woolly. The slightly musky odor of the flowers 

 may also be a factor in rendering it unpalatable. As a rule, livestock do 

 not eat the plant unless forced to do so by a scarcity of more palatable forage. 

 Occasionally, however, even under proper stocking and use, sheep will turn 

 to pearl everlasting and crop it lightly to fairly. 



The most characteristic feature of pearl everlasting is its numerous little 

 but attractive, rounded, pearly flower heads, which are borne in close, roundish 

 clusters at the tops of the stems. The conspicuous white portion of the flower 

 heads is made up of numerous overlapping white, papery bracts which look 

 like petals. These bracts (phyllaries), called collectively the involucre, sur- 

 round a small, light yellow or buff-colored center composed of numerous small 

 tubular flowers set upon a smooth base (receptacle). When the flowers are 

 young these centers are hardly noticeable, but as they get older the white bracts 

 spread out and the centers become darker and increase in size and prominence. 

 Only about one-half of the flower heads are capable of producing seed because 

 the male (pollen bearing) and the female (seed producing) flowers grow on 

 different flower heads. Sometimes a few perfect flowers, containing both 

 male and female parts, are borne in the center of the female (pistillate) 

 flower heads; these look much like the female flowers but are usually sterile. 



