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• Anaphalis margaritacea

Anaphalis margaritacea — pearly everlasting

Facts

Pearly everlasting is native to North America and Asia, but as a widely-cultivated ornamental it has greatly increased its range. It is often used in dried flower arrangements. It was used by Native Americans as a substitute for tobacco, and as a medicinal herb to treat burns, colds, coughs, diarrhea and dysentery, asthma, and sores and swelling.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract color

  the bracts are not colored or tinged with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  there are three or more cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces, with curled, tangled, matted, or woolly hairs

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)
  • the main bracts are ovate (egg-shaped)

  Disk flower color

  yellow

  Disk flower number

  • 21-50
  • more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has either only pollen- or only seed-producing parts

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, the flowers have no enlarged lobe or strap, and are of similar size as those in the center of the disk

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head platform surface

  NA

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top
  • the disk is rounded across the top

  Flower head width

  Up to 10 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has disk flowers only, and lacks the strap-shaped flowers

  Height of flower head base

  5–7 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Ovary attachment

  the ovary is attached at or near the base

  Ovary beak

  there is no beak on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)

  Ovary surface

  the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Ray flower color

  NA

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  NA

  Ray flowers

  0

  Ray length

  0 mm

  Reproductive system

  the flowers on the plant may have either carpels or stamens, but always in separate flowers

  Scale tip

  NA

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is no smaller, outer cycle of bracts

  Width of flower head base

  6–10 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Ovary beak length

  0 mm

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  0.5–1 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  the pappus hairs are not attached to one another near the base

  Seed hair tuft details

  the pappus hairs are hooked or barbed

  Seed hair tuft tips

  the pappus hairs are slender

  Seed hairs uniform

  all the pappus hairs are approximately the same length

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of very fine hairs or bristles

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  at least a part of the plume is made up of fine bristles

• Glands or sap

  Leaf blade glands

  • the leaf blades have glandular (translucent) dots or scales
  • the leaf blades have no glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Horizontal rooting stem

  there are no stolons

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment length (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has no petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole and at the base it clasps the stem, or goes all the way around the stem so the stem appears to pierce the leaf

  Leaf blade base shape

  the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade flatness

  the edges of the leaf are curled under

  Leaf blade hairs

  • the leaf blade has hairs with glands at their tips
  • the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly
  • the leaf blade has tangled or woolly-looking hairs

  Leaf blade length

  75–120 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is linear (very narrow with more or less parallel sides)
  • the leaf blade is oblanceolate (lance-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade veins

  • the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip
  • the leaf blade has three main veins running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  Up to 20 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf stalk length

  0 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Teeth per side of leaf blade

  0

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Scent

  Plant odor

  • the plant does not have much of an odor
  • the plant has a pleasant odor, such as licorice, fruit or resin

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem bloom

  there is no powdery or waxy film on the stem

  Stem internode hair type

  at least some of the hairs on the stem are tangled, matted or woolly

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  • the stem does not have wings on it
  • the stem has wings on it that run down the stem from the leaf nodes

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae