Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Antennaria media is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Rocky Mountain pussytoes. It is native to western North America from Alaska and northwestern Canada to California to New Mexico, where it grows in cold regions such as the alpine climate of high mountains. This is a perennial herb forming a matted patch of stolons and woolly basal leaves with flower clusters no more than about 13 centimeters tall. The flower clusters contain several flower heads. The species is dioecious, with male and female plants producing flower heads of slightly different morphologies. The fruit is an achene up to about 6 millimeters long, most of which is the long, soft pappus. There are several subspecies; one subspecies is diploid and reproduces sexually and the others are polyploid and display apomixis.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

5 in Tall

Calscape icon
Color

White

Sun

Full Sun

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17

Site type

High meadows, snow basin and ridges

Plant communities

Alpine Fell-Fields, Subalpine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 4 likely

Confirmed Likely

White-spotted Midget

Eutricopis nexilis

Pussy's Toes Pyrausta

Pyrausta unifascialis

Telethusia ovalis

American Lady

Vanessa virginiensis