Mountain everlasting or catsfoot (Antennaria dioica) is named in most languages after its resemblance to pads in cats’ feet. Catsfoot thrives in dry places, which at least in Finland equals sandy soil. The flowers are surprisingly easy to miss since they are only 5-30 cm tall. These ones were closer to 15 cm tall, and I almost trod on them when checking some other plants. I was cycling to work every day that week and found these flowers on a Monday. I checked the images at home on Monday evening and noticed they could’ve been clearer, so I tried to find them again. I couldn’t remember the exact spot I found them, and every single day I missed them even though I was trying to look carefully. Later I found the remnants of more catsfeet near the area I found these first ones, and there were a lot more of them there. Sadly I didn’t find them in their full bloom, so I missed the opportunity to get better quality pictures.
Anyway, catsfoot comes in two colours: pink and white. The pink capitula are pistillate, or female, flowers, whereas the white ones are staminate, or male, flowers. I managed to photograph both, but didn’t know this fact at the time. Catsfoot grows in cool and mountainous regions of Europe and Northern Asia and Alaska. Unfortunately its populations especially in southern Finland have declined recently, and the cause is believed to be a combination of global warming, increased nitrogen and ozone concentration in the lower atmosphere and loss of habitat such as dry banks and other open areas.
