Common Name: Pearly Everlasting

General Information

Anaphalis margaritacea is an erect, herbaceous, perennial plant producing a clump of stems up to 90cm long from a spreading, stoloniferous rootstock[].
The plant is harvsted from the wild for local use as a medicine. It also supplies a dye, is used as an incense and perhaps also as a food.
Widely cultivated as an ornamental, the plant has spread from cultivation and become naturalized in much of Europe[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

N. America. - Alaska to Newfoundland, south to northern Mexico and North Carolian; Asia- Russian Far East, China, Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan, Nepal

Habitat

Dry woods, often with aspen or mixed conifer-hardwood, borders and trails, dunes, fields, roadsides, other open, often disturbed sites; at elevations up to 3,200 metres[]. Moist meadows, by rivers, on wall tops and in sandy and waste places[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	0.90 m
Pollinators	Insects
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Anaphalis margaritacea has a very wide range from the Arctic regions of northern America and Asia to the subtropics of India. Plats are hardy to about -25°c[].
Prefers a light well-drained soil and a sunny position[, ]. Requires a moist soil[]. Succeeds in most soils[], including poor ones[], and also in light shade[]. Succeeds in the shade of buildings, but not of trees[]. Established plants are somewhat drought tolerant[].
The plant can spread aggressively under optimum growing conditions[].
The flowering stems can be dried and used as everlasting flowers[].
Plants seem to be immune to the predations of rabbits[].
A dioecious species - both male and female forms must be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Edible Uses

Young leaves - cooked[, ].

Medicinal

Pearly everlasting was often employed medicinally by native North American Indian tribes who used it in the treatment of a range of ailments[]. It is little used in modern herbalism.

The whole plant is anodyne, antiseptic, astringent, expectorant and sedative[, , , ]. Used internally, it is a good remedy for diarrhoea, dysentery and pulmonary affections[].
A poultice of the flowers or the whole plant is applied to burns, sores, ulcers, bruises, swellings and rheumatic joints[, , ]. An infusion of the plant is steamed and inhaled in the treatment of headaches[].

A cooled infusion of the roots and shots has been used as a laxative and emetic to treat 'poison stomach'[].

Other Uses

Yellow to gold, also green and brown dyes can be obtained from the flowers, stems and leaves combined[].
The leaves, flowers and stems have been used as an incense, especially in baby cradles[].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame[, ]. The seed is best sown when it is ripe in the autumn. It usually germinates in 4 - 8 weeks at 15°c[]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Division is very easy at almost any time of the year, the divisions can be planted straight into their permanent positions if required.