Nuttall’s Pussytoes - Antennaria parvifolia
Railroad Canyon, Black Range, New Mexico
May 2014
Nuttall’s Pussytoes (also known as Small-leaf Pussytoes) is told from the closely associated Antennaria marginata by the fact that its leaves are hairy on both sides. It is native to most of Canada, most of the western United States and northern Mexico (Chihuahua and Nuevo León). This is an interesting species because populations in New Mexico and Colorado are dioecious and can reproduce sexually. Other populations are gynoecious and reproduce apomictically (apomixis does not include forms of asexual reproduction like growth from cuttings). Plants which form from apomixis reproduction are genetical identical to the parent plant.
Scientific synonyms include A. aprica (including various varieties), A. aureola, A. dioica, A. holmii...
Thomas Nuttall described this species in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 1841.