Antennaria howellii explained
Antennaria howellii, the everlasting or Howell's pussytoes,[1] is a North American species of plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to northern Alaska, much of Canada including the Arctic territories, and the northern United States as far south as northern California, Colorado and North Carolina.[2]
Antennaria howellii is an evergreen perennial plant. The form is usually basal rosettes, largely clonally propagated. The basal rosette leaves are 2–4 cm long and 6–12 mm broad, light green and spatulate, with a thin arm and a broad tip with a point. They have woolly white undersides. The flowerheads appear in May, on a stem 15–35 cm tall with smaller, slender leaves 1–4 cm long. It is commonly seen growing under pine stands.[3]
- Subspecies[3]
- Antennaria howellii subsp. howellii – western + north-central US, western + central Canada including Yukon
- Antennaria howellii subsp. canadensis – northeastern US, eastern + central Canada including Labrador
- Antennaria howellii subsp. neodioica – Canada, northern US
- Antennaria howellii subsp. petaloidea – Canada, northern US
The plant is named for American botanist Thomas J. Howell, who collected the first known specimens of the plant in 1887.[4]
Conservation status in the United States
The petaloidea subspecies is listed as a special concern and believed extirpated in Connecticut.[5]
Native American ethnobotany
The Nuxalk Nation take a decoction of leaves for body pain, but not pain in the limbs.[6] The Ojibwe take an infusion of the neodioica subspecies after childbirth to purge afterbirth and to heal.[7]
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=9015 Calflora taxon report, University of California, Antennaria howellii Greene Howell's pussytoes
- http://bonap.net/MapGallery/State/Antennaria%20howellii.png Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map
- http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066076 Flora of North America Vol. 19, 20 and 21 Page 403 Howell’s pussytoes, antennaire de Howell, Antennaria howellii Greene
- https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52470#page/195/mode/1up Greene, Edward Lee 1897. Pittonia 3(16C): 174
- http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/wildlife/pdf_files/nongame/ets15.pdf "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015"
- Smith, Harlan I., 1929, Materia Medica of the Bella Coola and Neighboring Tribes of British Columbia, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 56:47–68, page 65
- Smith, Huron H., 1932, Ethnobotany of the Ojibwe Indians, Bulletin of the Public Museum of Milwaukee 4:327–525, page 363
