Pseudognaphalium canescens subsp. canescens

FNA 2006, Wiggins 1964, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Erect or ascending, short-lived, perennial herb much branched at base, densely and closely white-woolly. Leaves: Crowded and matted at base, oblong to oblanceolate or somewhat spatulate, to 1 cm wide, 2-4.5 cm long, cauline leaves oblong to oblong-oblanceolate, 1.5-5 mm wide, 1.5-3 cm long, densely tomentose on both sides, rarely slightly greenish on upper surface, acute and apiculate at apex, sessile and not at all or only slightly decurrent at base. Flowers: Inflorescence of numerous, small, ovoid-turbinate heads arranged in open corymbose panicle of few-headed glomerules, each head 4-5.5 mm long; bracts well imbricated in 3-5 series, white and shining, outermost woolly at base only, mostly obtuse, sometimes apiculate; pistillate flowers capillary about 3 mm long, about equaled by pappus bristles; perfect flowers about same length. Fruits: Cypselae ovoidal, 0.5-0.7 mm long, pale brown, smooth, dull; pappus bristles distinct. Ecology: Found on arid rocky slopes from 3,500-7,000 ft (1067-2134 m); flowers August-October.  Notes: Ours is subsp. canescens. Ethnobotany: Ground flowers inhaled for head colds, or leaves used as a paste for linament. Etymology: Pseudognaphalium is false gnaphalium, the former genus name, while canescens means covered with short gray or white hairs. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley, 2010