[Pussytoes: The Genus Antennaria in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Hooker's Pussytoes, Raceme Pussytoes, Raceme Pussy-toes, Racemose Pussytoes, Slender Pussytoes, Slender Everlasting

Antennaria racemosa

The photo at right is a close-up of the inflorescence of slender pussy-toes. Note the minute glands on the involucres. Photographed at the Grassy Knoll Trailhead, Gifford Pinchot N.F.......July 7, 1991.

Characteristics:

Slender pussy-toes is a perennial wildflower with several upright stems arising from 10-60 cm high from creeping, leafy stolons. The herbage of the stems is thinly tomentose below and evidently glandular above. The basal leaves are short-petiolate with elliptic t elliptic-ovate or elliptic-obovate blades. The blades range from 1.5-8 cm long and 1-5 cm wide with a persistent cottony-tomentose lower surface and green and typically hairless upper surfaces (as seen in the photo below).

The inflorescence consists of a racemiform series of several flower heads, each flower head at the end of a long, slender stalk (as seen at right). The involucres are only lightly or scarcely tomentose. The involucres of the male flower heads range from 4-5 mm high while those of the female heads range from 6-8 mm high. The tiny flowers are white. The flowers are imperfect, with the staminate and pistillate flowers found on separate plants

Habitat:

Slender pussy-toes is a wildflower of moist forest openings from middle to higher elevations in the mountains.

Range:

Antennaria racemosa is found from British Columbia and Alberta south to Washington, Oregon, central Idaho and Wyoming.

In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found between the elevations of 100'-4800' from near Three Corner Rock east to near Hood River, OR.

Basal leaves of slender pussytoes as seen along the Starvation Ridge Cutoff Trail #414B, Starvation Creek State Park, Columbia River Gorge.........May 7, 2015.

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Close-ups of slender pussytoes as seen along the McCord Creek Trail in the western Columbia River Gorge...........May 10, 2009.

The photo above shows the leaves of Hooker's pussytoes as photographed on cliffs on the northwest side of Mt. Adams.........May 30, 2005. The upper leaf surface is bright green and white-woolly below. The basal leaves of this species tend to be more broadly ovate than those of the similar Antennaria howellii.

Paul Slichter