E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Anaphalis margaritacea (L.) Benth.
pearly everlasting; western pearly everlasting
Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Rod Innes  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #10539)


Distribution of Anaphalis margaritacea
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Species Information

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Illustration SourceThe Illustrated Flora of BC

General:
Perennial herbs from rhizomes; stems usually unbranched, leafy, white-woolly, 20-90 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves few, deciduous; stem leaves alternate, narrowly lance-shaped with a conspicuous mid-vein, 2-15 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, greenish above, white-woolly beneath; margins often rolled under.
Flowers:
Heads small, discoid, in dense flat-topped clusters; involucres 5-7 mm tall, woolly at the base; involucral bracts dry, pearly white, sometimes with a dark basal spot; disk flowers yellowish.
Fruits:
Achenes small, to about 1 mm long; roughened; glabrous to sparsely hairy; pappus hairs white.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Flower Colour:
Yellow
USDA Blooming Period:
Early Summer
USDA Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Black
Present from Summer to Fall
Source:  The USDA

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Anaphalis margaritacea

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2008)

Site Information
Value / Class

Average

Minimum

Maximum

Elevation (metres)
1083 7 2380
Slope Gradient (%)
24.0 0 270

Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]

190.9 0 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
4.0 0 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
Medium
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
800
Modal BEC Zone Class
CWH

All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in

AT(17), BG(2), BWBS(4), CDF(1), CMA(9), CWH(187), ESSF(127), ICH(96), IDF(32), MH(13), MS(31), PP(1), SBPS(5), SBS(70), SWB(2)

Ecological Indicator Information

A shade-intolerant, submontane to subalpine, Asian and transcontinental North America forb. Occurs on water-shedding sites within alpine tundra, boreal. cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Inhabits exposed mineral soil on cutover sites, clearings, and waysides. Under these circumstances often dominates initial stages of secondary succes­sion. Characteristic of disturbed sites.

SourceIndicator Plants of Coastal British Columbia (Information applies to coastal locations only)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the:  "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Habitat / Range

Moist to dry meadows, open forests, logging units, fields and roadsides in the lowland, montane and subalpine zones; common throughout all but NE BC; N to AK, YT, and NT, E to NF and NS and S to NC, KY, AZ, NM and CA.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of BC

Synonyms and Alternative Names

Anaphalis margaritacea var. angustior (Miq.) Nakai
Anaphalis margaritacea var. intercedens H. Hara
Anaphalis margaritacea var. occidentalis Greene
Anaphalis margaritacea var. revoluta Suksd.
Anaphalis margaritacea var. subalpina A. Gray
Anaphalis occidentalis (Greene) A. Heller
Gnaphalium margaritaceum L.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

Related Databases

General References