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

Antennaria howellii Greene
Howell's pussytoes
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #14086)

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Distribution of Antennaria howellii
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial herb with short and leafy or more elongate and nearly naked stolons; stems erect, several, branched above, thinly woolly-hairy, 15-35 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves spoon-shaped to oblanceolate, 20-40 mm long, 6-12 mm wide, 1- to 3-nerved, green above, woolly-hairy below, with sharp, slender tips; stem leaves linear, 12-40 mm long, with or without papery tips.
Flowers:
Heads few to many in a compact inflorescence; involucres of 1 type, these female, 6-10 mm tall, hairy at the base; involucral bracts narrow, abruptly sharp-pointed, light brown, white, cream or sometimes rose at the base; female flowers 4-6.5 mm long.
Fruits:
Achenes elliptic, 1-2 mm long, pappilate; pappus white with hairlike bristles, 6-8 mm long.
Notes:
Bayer (1989) split this species from A. neglecta based on the fact that this complex of apomicts are of hybrid polyploid origin from among many sexual progenitors and to place it with any one of these (i.e., A. neglecta) is not desirable. Two subspecies occur in BC.

1. Basal leaves 1-3 nerved, more than 9 mm wide; upper stem leaves usually without papery tips; involucral bract tips light brown to white.................... ssp. howellii

1. Basal leaves 1-nerved, less than 9 mm wide; upper stem leaves usually with papery tips; involucral bract tips white or cream or sometimes rose at the base....................... ssp. canadensis (Greene) Bayer

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry forests in the montane zone; ssp. howellii frequent throughout most of BC, ssp. canadensis infrequent in N and E BC; N to YT and NT, E to NF and S to VA, AZ and CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Antennaria howellii

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, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 976 976 976
Slope Gradient (%) 37 37 37
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
163 163 163
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 2 2
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
1
Modal BEC Zone Class
ICH
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: ICH(1)

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.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References