Antennaria flagellaris

Antennaria flagellaris
Antennaria flagellaris on Badger Mountain, Douglas County Washington

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Antennaria
Species:
A. flagellaris
Binomial name
Antennaria flagellaris
Synonyms
  • Antennaria dimorpha var. flagellaris A.Gray

Antennaria flagellaris is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names whip pussytoes and stoloniferous pussytoes. It is native primarily to the Great Basin and Columbia Plateau regions of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and northern Nevada (Elko County), where it is a member of the sagebrush scrub plant community. Additional populations are found in northeastern California (Lassen + Modoc Counties), Wyoming (Park + Teton Counties), the Black Hills of South Dakota (Custer County), and the Canadian Province of British Columbia.

Antennaria flagellaris is a petite perennial herb forming a thin patch on the ground no more than 2 centimeters high. It grows from a slender caudex and spreads via thin, wiry, cobwebby stolons. The woolly grayish leaves are one to two centimeters long and generally lance-shaped. The tiny inflorescence holds a single flower head less than a centimeter wide. The species is dioecious, with male plants producing only staminate flowers and female plants producing only pistillate flowers. The fruit is a bumpy achene up to a centimeter long including its long, soft pappus.