Anaphalis margaritacea - Pearly Everlasting - 3" Pot

Pearly Everlasting is an herbaceous perennial that forms attractive clumps reaching up to three feet tall. It has wooly stems and slender leaves that take on a silvery appearance due to the dense hairs on their undersides. Its small, yellow, composite flowers are surrounded by layers of pearly white bracts. These flowering structures are grouped together atop its stems in tight, flat clusters creating a dazzling effect. The bright white bracts keep their color long after the actual flowers have faded, making this a choice species for dried floral arrangements. This is also where the species gets its common name.

This species is dioecious, meaning that individual plants either bear only male flowers or only female flowers, a strategy to ensure proper cross-pollination. Pearly everlasting prefers full sun and dry, rocky, or poor soils, though it can tolerate some shade and moisture. In ideal conditions, this plant can sometimes grow aggressively. Pearly everlasting is fairly resistant to deer, and it is an important host plant for both the painted lady butterfly and the American painted lady butterfly.