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Pearly
Everlasting
Anaphalis margaritacea (L.) Benth. & Hook.
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Family: Asteraceae,
Aster or Composite
Genus: Anaphalis
Description
General: 20-60 cm tall, leafy.
Growth habit:
Erect perennial from rhizomes.
Stems:
loosely white-woolly with hairs or almost green.
 Leaves: alternate on stem, up to 12 cm long and 2 cm
wide, lance-shaped to linear, stalkless, edges often
rolled
under. Loosely white-woolly, commonly less hairy above
than beneath, or green above.
 Flowerheads: white, up to 10 mm wide, with disk florets
only, which
are yellow to brown, several growing in dense
clusters. Involucre about 5-7 mm high with white, papery
bracts, sometimes with a small basal dark spot.
Flowering time: July-September.
 Fruits: achenes with small, rounded bumps, with
pappus of short, white hairs.
Distribution
Openings in the forest, from the lowlands to moderately
high elevations in the mountains in w. and s. parts of MT.
Also extending to B.C., CA, AZ, NM, KS and eastern Asia.
  Edible and medicinal plant, see below.
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(click on image for full size)
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(click on images for full size)
The leaves and young plants can be used as a potherb. American natives smoked the leaves as tobacco and and as a treatment for throat and lung problems. Pearly everlasting poultices were applied to rheumatic joints, burns, sores, bruises and swellings. Plants were also used in medicinal teas to treat colds, bronchial coughs, throat infections, upset stomachs, diarrhea and dysentery. The flowers and stems have a pleasant fragrance and they also keep their shape and color when dried. |
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