''Antennaria microphylla'' (littleleaf pussytoes, rosy pussytoes, pink pussytoes, small pussytoes, dwarf everlasting) is a

stoloniferous In biology, a stolon ( from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal stolons ar ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

forb A forb or phorb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in botany and in vegetation ecology especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically, these are eudicots without woo ...

in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. It is widespread across northern and western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, from

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and the three Canadian Arctic territories east to

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and south to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. ''Antennaria microphylla'' can be found growing in plains, hills, dry meadow, and open wood habitats. It is a small herb with male and female flowers on separate plants. It grows from with spoon shaped or oblong leaves; it blossoms from late May to July. The

Columbian ground squirrel The Columbian ground squirrel (''Urocitellus columbianus'') is a species of rodent common in certain regions of Canada and the northwestern United States. It is the second largest member of the genus ''Urocitellus'', which is part of the tribe Ma ...

feeds on Litteleaf pussytoes.

Cultivation

Littleleaf pussytoes is valued by gardeners for its charming, very fine foliage as a garden

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows low over an area of ground, which protects the topsoil from erosion and drought. In a terrestrial ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the ...

References

microphylla Plants described in 1897 Flora of Subarctic America Flora of Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the South-Central United States {{Gnaphalieae-stub