Day 278: Pussytoes! Or as I say to Tippy when I blow on his feet, "Pussyfoots!" The pink "blossoms" you see here are actually rose-coloured bracts which surround the true flower: yellow, inconspicuous, and capable of a remarkable reproductive feat: Antennaria microphylla can set viable seed without being fertilized. In botany, this phenomenon is called apomixis or agamospermy. The plant is also capable of sexual reproduction, doubling its opportunities to create a new generation of Pussytoes. Individual colonies of Rosy Pussytoes are likely to be genetically identical, i.e., clones of themselves. Having a backup reproductive strategy is more common in flowering plants than one might expect. Other species which can reproduce by means of apomixis include dandelions and hawkweed.
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