Foothills, montane. Meadows, openings, woodlands. Spring, summer.
Prater Ridge Trail, May 2, 2006.

Antennaria dimorpha produces distinctive silver-green patches of tiny leaves surmounted (barely) by numerous flowers, each on its own stem.  A. dimorpha is found in dry, open rimrock areas and meadows, primarily in the foothills and mesas.  The plant grows to just one or two inches tall, but it commonly spreads over several square feet and where it finds suitable habitat, it may be found in numerous patches.  The plant is dioecious, i.e., male flowers grow on one mat of plants and female flowers on another.  Pictured at left are the female flowers and the next photograph below shows a different plant with male flowers.

William Weber indicates that A. dimorpha is "very unlike any other species [of Antennaria] and possibly deserv[es] generic rank".

Thomas Nuttall collected the first specimen of this plant for science near the Platte River in the mid-1830s and he named it Gnaphalium dimorphum in 1841.  Torrey and Gray renamed it Antennaria dimorpha in 1843.  "Dimorpha" is Greek for "two" or "separate",  "parts" or "forms" -- possibly referring to the two different plants  --  female and male. 

Foothills, montane. Meadows, openings, woodlands. Spring, summer.
Dolores River Overlook Trail, April 28, 2008.

Foothills, montane. Meadows, openings, woodlands. Spring, summer.
Prater Ridge Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, May 16, 2006.

The photograph at left shows that in just two weeks, the flowers in the first A. dimorpha photograph above have matured, turned rusty brown, and exploded in a fluff of white seeds.

Foothills, montane. Meadows, openings, woodlands. Spring, summer.
Narraguinnep Natural Area, May 11, 2009.

Minute seeds subtend glistening pappus hairs.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Antennaria dimorpha