ASTERACEAE

SUNFLOWER FAMILY

David J. Keil, Family Editor and author, except as specified

Annual to tree
Leaves basal or cauline, alternate to whorled, simple to compound
Inflorescence: 1° inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower, 1–many, generally arrayed in cymes, generally subtended by ± calyx-like involucre; flowers 1–many per head
Flowers bisexual, unisexual, or sterile, ± small, of several types; calyx 0 or modified into pappus of bristles, scales, or awns, which is generally persistent in fruit; corolla radial or bilateral (rarely 0), lobes generally (0)4–5; stamens 4–5, anthers generally fused into cylinder around style, often appendaged at tips, bases, or both, filaments generally free, generally attached to corolla near throat; pistil 1, ovary inferior, 1-chambered, 1-seeded, style 1, branches 2, generally hair-tufted at tip, stigmas 2, generally on inside of style branches
Fruit: achene, cylindric to ovoid, generally deciduous with pappus attached
Genera in family: ± 1300 genera, 21,000 species (largest family of dicots): worldwide. Largest family in CA. Also see tribal key to CA genera: Strother 1997 Madroño 44(1):1–28. See glossary p. 25 for illustrations of general family characteristics.

ANTENNARIA

PUSSY-TOES

G. Ledyard Stebbins and Randall J. Bayer

Perennial, often matted, dioecious; staminate plants generally present
Leaves alternate, entire, generally ± tomentose
Inflorescence: heads discoid or disciform, 1 or in cyme-like clusters; phyllaries many in several series, papery or membranous (staminate wider, more conspicuous); receptacle naked
Staminate flowers 2–5 mm; corollas white, yellow, or red; pappus bristle tips generally enlarged
Pistillate flowers 2–10 mm; corollas barely lobed, white, yellow or red
Fruit 0.5–3.5 mm, ± elliptic; pappus bristles many, soft, weakly barbed
Species in genus: ± 40 species: Am, n Eurasia
Etymology: (Latin: antenna)
Reference: [Bayer 1990 Can J Bot 68:1389–1397 and Madroño 37:171–183]
Many races reproduce by asexual seeds, their populations entirely pistillate plants.

Native

A. howellii Greene subsp. howellii

Plants pistillate
Stems 15–30 cm; stolons 1–4 cm
Leaves: basal 25–40 mm, oblanceolate to spoon-shaped, 1–3-veined, green above, tomentose below; cauline 20–40 mm, linear
Inflorescence: heads 5–12; involucres 6–7.5 mm, base hairy; phyllaries narrow, acute, upper part light brown to white
Flowers: corollas 5–6 mm
Fruit 1.5–2 mm, papillate; pappus 6–8 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=56,84
Ecology: Open, pine woods, rocky slopes
Elevation: 1300–2000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Klamath Ranges
Distribution outside California: to w Canada, Montana, South Dakota
Synonyms: A. neglecta Greene var. h. Cronquist; A. neodioica Greene subsp. h. (Greene) R. Bayer
Horticultural information: DRN, IRR: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16 &SUN: 4, 5, 17.