''Antennaria racemosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name racemose pussytoes. It is native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from British Columbia and Alberta south as far as northern California and Wyoming.US Forest Service Fire Ecology
/ref>Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
/ref> It grows in mountain forests, generally in moist, partially shaded areas, and often colonizes bare patches of mineral-rich soil, including disturbed areas. ''Antennaria racemosa'' is a glandular perennial herb which may be small, woolly, and matted to nearly hairless and erect to heights near 50 cm (20 inches).Jepson Manual Treatment
/ref> It forms basal patches of oval-shaped leaves 3 to 10 centimeters long, fuzzy on the undersides and shiny green above. The patches are connected with

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

s covered in leaves. The erect stem bears an inflorescence which can be shaped like a

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

and is often dense, especially in higher elevations, containing several

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

. The species is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female plants producing different types of flowers in the heads.Flora of North America
/ref> The fruit is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

with a body only about a millimeter long attached to a soft pappus up to 7 millimeters long. The pappus catches the wind, which disperses the seed. The plant also reproduces vegetatively via its creeping stolons.

References

External links

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United States Department of Agriculture Plants ProfileCalphotos Photo gallery, University of CaliforniaCalflora taxon report, University of California, ''Antennaria racemosa'' Hook. raceme pussytoes, racemose pussytoes Turner Photographics, Wildflowers of the Pacific NorthwestBlackfoot Native Plants
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4771275 racemosa Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of California Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Klamath Mountains Plants described in 1834 Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker Flora without expected TNC conservation status