Pussytoes (Anntenaria neglecta)

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Wildlife Value

Pollinating Insects

Native?

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Pussytoes | Stillwater, MN| View Enlarged Image

Pussytoes are commonly seen in April or May. It is a native wildflower, and given its resemblance to a cat's furry toe pads, it's easy to see how it got its name. The white flowers usually form in clusters of seven to ten, and the long, single stems and thin basal leaves are covered in fine grayish hairs that help to insulate it against spring's last chilly mornings. Pussytoes excude a toxin that poisons the topsoil in its immediate vicinity, eliminating small plants and wildflowers that would otherwise compete for space, water, and sunlight.

Naturalist Notes:

"Pussytoes make a great groundcover. I grow it among steppingstones in my garden. It grows like crazy with early spring rains. The short-stalked creamy flowers make me think of what edelweis must look like (if I'm ever lucky enough to see it!) They're great to dry as bunches of small posies. Then the diminuative painted lady butterflies hover over pussytoe leaves, laying eggs. Before long cottony masses are woven at the center of the leaf rosettes. Hairy, green and black caterpillars reside inside. Not lovely to look at, these caterpillars nonetheless have good survival strategies to protect themselves from bird predation. One warm summer, the butterflies went nuts, laying generations of eggs. The pussytoes were being consumed by hundreds of tiny, voracious caterpillars. But the pussytoes did survive to grow back again. I doubt this devastation would happen in nature.

"In prairies, pussytoes grow early and finish flowering in spring before the taller grasses and flowers get growing. The butterflies would have a harder time finding all the pussytoe leaves hidden away under grasses."

-- Jan Hayman, Maplewood Nature Center, 8/29/04

Multimedia:


Pussytoes; flowerhead \| Stillwater, MN	Pussytoes; basal leaves \| Stillwater, MN

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