This beautiful, gray-green groundcover grows well in full to part sun and in average to dry soils, including rocky and clay. It prefers dry woodlands with light, dappled shade but also performs well in full sun and is drought tolerant once established. White, compact flower clusters resembling a tiny cat's paw form atop 10-inch stems from April to June, attracting bees, flies, and butterflies. The leaves often remain green throughout winter.
This species has a somewhat unusual reproductive system for an herbaceous plant because the male and female flowers occur on separate plants. As the flowers open, they reveal their sex. Naturalist Mary Anne Borge paints an amusing picture of the male flowers: "the stamens (the male reproductive parts) emerge above the tubular corolla, transforming the inflorescence’s appearance from pussytoe-like to more of the look of a white-iced cupcake covered with birthday candles. In a close-up, a stamen also resembles a box of popcorn (at least to me), with the emerging pollen playing the role of the popcorn spilling out of the box." The female flowers are covered with hair-like projections, or pappus, so that they resemble fluffy, white pom-poms. The genus Antennaria refers to the antenna-like appearance of the pappus. For more details on the pollinators of pussytoes, visit Borge's article, "Pussytoes and Butterflies" at The-Natural-Web.org (link provided below).
Native habitats include open woods, fields, and rocky banks. Good for rock gardens and dry areas.
Plant Characteristics:
Foliage is 1-3” tall; male flowers are about 8" tall and female flowers are up to 12" in height. Spread is 10-24".
Does best in full sun to light shade.
Thrives in gritty, rocky, well-drained soils with dry to medium moisture. Difficult to grow in fertile, humusy soils. Does not tolerate standing water or boggy soils with poor drainage.
Female flowers have tubes of fused flower petals with long, white, hair-like projections (pappus). The pappus changes to a light, fluffy appendage attached to the ripe fruit, helping with wind dispersal. Male plants have stamens emerging above the tubular corolla.
Soft, woolly, paddle-shaped leaves are at ground level. Grayish, fuzzy stalks emerge in early spring.
Reproductive System: male and female parts occur on separate plants (dioecious). The plant can self-fertilize, but it benefits from cross-pollination through insects. Also reproduces vegetatively by spreading stolons--the colony of shoots will have the same sex and genetics as the parent plant.
Wildlife Value:
Pussytoes is a host plant for three caterpillars—American lady butterfly, Agnopterix nebulosi, and pussystoes pyrausta moths. It is visited primarily by halictid bees, cuckoo bees, adrenid bees, and a variety of fly species. It is a host for fly larvae, including chrysanthemum leaf miner and pussytoes bud midge. Bobwhite quail and the declining population of ruffed grouse eat the seeds. Deer resistant.
Medicinal, Edible and Other Uses:
The Cherokee used this plant to make a medicinal tea to aid digestion, as it can stimulate bile flow and pancreatic enzyme secretion.
Resources:
Gardenia: https://www.gardenia.net/plant/antennaria-plantaginifolia
The Natural Web: https://the-natural-web.org/2017/05/15/pussytoes-and-butterflies/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKgLk1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtRR5ex8FkgAcB4C1mUvamlxeiK3k7bSKmJpSR45PyiuvKFAQcQQWqgJnbsE_aem_516qCFaQ7zN1K8MHQG1nmg
