Stoloniferous pussytoes (Antennaria flagellaris) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 7

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Population Sizes and Trends

Three geographically restricted populations of Antennaria flagellaris are known from a 3.2 km stretch of highway over about 4.8 km² (Figure 3) in the Similkameen River valley, south of Princeton, British Columbia (Table 2). They occupy about 2200 m² and number approximately 1,000,000 plants. (Plant numbers for the latter count were made by extrapolating from exact counts in five 1-m plots to the area covered.)

Short- and long-term trends for these populations are unknown but can be expected to vary markedly due to differences in yearly plantlet survival, seed germination and seedling success. Conditions on the unstable, ephemerally moist clay slopes may vary drastically from year to year when abnormal climatic fluctuations affect the site hydrology. Since this species is dioecious, we can infer that 50% of the population is not seed-bearing but for this species even these plants can reproduce asexually.