(alpine pussytoes)
Select an option below for more information on this species
Photo of Antennaria alpina by Carl Roland
|
Alpine antennaria is a small alpine herb with green-gray coloring and only female flowers that occurs sporadically throughout the mountainous regions of Denali. This species grows in alpine tundra and meadows, usually in swales and other moist sites. Growing from a creeping, freely branched underground stem, the plants are mat-forming. Several flowering stalks are produced above a tight
basal rosette of leaves. The leaves are
oblanceolate, 0.5-2.5 cm long, abruptly sharp-pointed, green to gray, hairless to slightly hairy above and gray
tomentose below. The middle and top stem leaves have
linear, dark brown
scarious tips. Stems are short, 3-15 cm tall, leafy, densely gray-haired and bearing 2-5 heads in a rounded cluster. The
inflorescences are surrounded by many narrow
bracts, the tip dark and
scarious, similar to the stem leaf tips. Fused purple petals are 3-5 mm long, overshadowed by the white, hair-like
pappus (modified
sepals), 4-6 mm long. All plants of this clonally reproducing species are unisexual and produce only female flowers. Fruits are
achenes, with a tuft of white hairs (
pappus). Overall, the flowers have a soft, white appearance due to the
pappus, leading to the common name of 'alpine catsfoot' or 'alpine pussytoes.' This species can be distinguished from multi-headed
Antennaria friesiana because it lacks
glandular hairs on leaves and stems.
This species flowers in mid-summer, the stem expanding as the flowers set fruit in the fall (
Aiken et al. 2003).
Antennaria alpina is perennial.
A. alpina is gynoecious: plants only produce flowers of one sex, and female plants make up the vast majority of the population. As such, the flowers can set seed without fertilization (
apomixis), and the species is clonally reproduced. Seeds are dry
capsules, with the persistent
pappus serving to catch the wind. Male plants are occasionally found, so there is a possibility of sexual reproduction, and gene flow from hybridization with other species.
Antennaria alpina is a circumpolar species with an arctic-alpine distribution. In North America, this species occurs southwards from Alaska along the Rocky Mountains into the Yukon, B.C., and Montana, and eastwards to Northwest Territory, Nunavut, and northeastern Canada including Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces then further east to Greenland and Europe. This species distribution in Alaska is primarily located in the mountains of southern Alaska westward to Unalaska, with isolated localities in the Seward Peninsula, Brooks Range and the North Slope. In Denali, A. alpina occurs in alpine areas on both sides of the Alaska Range crest, including the Kantishna Hills.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right, depicting recent Denali data.
This species is found primarily on south-facing slopes, at moderately high elevations. It's moderately common at 900-1100 m, but overall not an abundant species. Its frequency is positively correlated with slope. Specimens on northern aspects occur on a larger range of slopes.
Details are shown in the Plots & Charts found at right. For more on how to interpret these figures, visit Understanding Data Presented.
This species is typically found on gravelly slopes and talus, occasionally in wet swales.
Moist to dry sites in the mountains.
