Wildflowers of Ainsworth: Pussytoes

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These flowers get their name from their resemblance to a cat's toes — with the claws retracted, of course. The blossoms are just little white puffs, the stems and leaves downy.

According to Jack Sanders, their other folk names include ladies' tobacco, love's nest, poverty weed, and pearly mouse-eared everlasting.

The only one of those names with any explanation is "poverty weed," for their ability to grow in poor soil. That name is also applied to other plants with the same ability.

I came across these in Jerry Pavese Park, or whatever they call that part of the park with the Scout cabin, but they are common.

Pussytoes tend to grow in colonies, and the plants in each colony are connection by runners beneath the surface of the soil.