Antennaria anaphaloides (Tall Everlasting) - photos and description
Male
flowers in above photo
Male flowers in above photo.
Female flowers close-up
Basal
leaf in above photo
Stem
leaf in above photo
Inner bracts show white
Origin: Native.
General: A tall Antennaria species whose growth habit is not mat-forming. Plants tomentose.
Flowers: Many flower heads in an open corymb, single flower head was measured at 5 mm diameter. Flowers unisexual, male and female flowers growing on separate plants.
Leaves: Basal leaves 3-nerved, lanceolate to elliptical, the blade of the basal leaf highlighted in above photo was measured at 7 cm long and 2 cm wide. Stem leaves alternate, linear lanceolate, sessile, stem leaf highlighted in photo above was 5 cm long and 6 mm wide.
Height: Budd's Flora lists height of 50 cm, we measured plants to 35 cm tall.
Habitat: Grassland in the Cypress upland.
Abundance: Very rare, ranked as an S1 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Similar species: This plant is very similar to Antennaria pulcherrima. To distinguish between the two examine the colour of the innermost petaloid bracts. In A. anaphaloides the bracts are snow white; in A. pulcherrima the innermost bracts are light brown or straw coloured.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos June 16th, 19th and 27th hillside meadows, Cypress Hills, about 450 km south west of our home in Regina, SK.