Antennaria microphylla

Littleleaf pussytoes

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Littleleaf pussytoes is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, and southeastern Sierra Nevada in dry meadows at elevations of 2,500 to 3,250 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces white to pale yellow flowers in compact heads 6 to 13 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems 9 to 30 centimeters tall that have stalked-glandular upper portions and develop short stolons, it forms delicate clumps in alpine meadows. Its basal leaves are spoon-shaped, 6 to 16 millimeters long, and covered in silvery hairs, while the stem leaves are narrow and linear. The plant produces small fruits 0.7 to 1.2 millimeters long, with distinctive white to pale yellow phyllaries that give the flower heads a soft, silvery appearance.

Habitat: dry meadows

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 2500-3250 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH, SnBr, SnJt, SNE

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.