Antennaria
(from antennae; in reference to the similarity which exists between the seed down of the plant and the antennae, or feelers, of an insect). ORD. Compositae. Hardy herbaceous perennials, distinguished by the dry, coloured, chaffy scales encircling each head of flowers, of which the stamens and pistils are on different plants.
These are charming little alpine plants, admirably adapted for rockwork, pots, edgings, or borders, in any light soil.
Propagated by divisions of the roots in spring, and seeds; the latter should be sown in spring in a cold frame. Grown chiefly for their leaves. A. dioica (dioecious).* fl. heads pink, in crowded corymbs, 3in. to 4in. high. June. l. radical ones spathulate, woolly chiefly beneath; upper ones lanceolate. Stems simple; shoots procumbent. Britain. The two or three varieties of this pretty species exceed the type in beauty. SYN. Gnaphalium dioicum.
A. d. hyperborea (northern). l. woolly on both surfaces.
A. d. minima (smallest).* A very small growing variety.
A. margaritacea (pearly).* fl.-heads white, corymbose. August. l. linear-lanceolate, acute, alternate, cottony, especially beneath. Stems branched above. h. 2ft. Naturalised in England and on the Continent. Said to have been introduced from America about the sixteenth century. The prettier but much rarer A. triplinervis, from Nepaul, comes close to this species.
A. tomentosa (downy).* fl.-heads corymbose. Summer. One of the dwarfest and best of silvery-leaved plants, either as an edging for small beds or for covering the higher portions of rockwork; it is much used in carpet bedding. It scarcely grows more than 1in. high, and forms a dense carpet in a short space of time. It should be grown separate from other plants. It is frequently known under the name of A. candida.