About Leontopodium leontopodioides (Willd.) Beauverd
This herbaceous perennial plant grows between 10 and 40 centimeters (4 to 15½ inches) tall. It spreads via a network of short stolons, which it uses for vegetative reproduction. It forms a basal patch of woolly, grayish leaves that are 1 to 4 cm (½ to 1½ inches) long. It blooms in early summer, producing an inflorescence that holds a cluster of several flower heads. Each head is lined with wide, pointed phyllaries that are most often rose in color — this trait gives the species its common name — though the phyllaries can also be white, yellowish, or brownish. This species is dioecious, and because the vast majority of individuals are female, most flower heads contain only pistillate flowers. The fruit it produces is an achene, with a body less than 2 millimeters long and a pappus that is 6 or 7 mm long. The plant often produces fertile seeds, but most individuals in most populations are clones. This species is polyploid and exhibits apomixis; almost all plants are female and reproduce asexually. Pollen from other Antennaria species can sometimes fertilize this plant, introducing new genes into Antennaria rosea populations and increasing the genetic diversity of the clones. Antennaria rosea is widespread across most of Canada, including all three of Canada's Arctic territories, and also occurs in Greenland, the western and north-central United States, and the Mexican state of Baja California. It grows in a broad range of habitats, across dry to wet climates and from low elevations to very high elevations. It is a highly morphologically diverse species, with individuals that can look very different from one another. In the United Kingdom, A. rosea has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Four subspecies are recognized: Antennaria rosea subsp. arida (E.E.Nelson) R.J.Bayer, Antennaria rosea subsp. confinis (Greene) R.J.Bayer, Antennaria rosea subsp. pulvinata (Greene) R.J.Bayer, and Antennaria rosea subsp. rosea.
