Common name: Cudweed
Gamochaeta pensylvanica (Willd.) Cabrera APNI* Synonyms: Gnaphalium pensylvanicum Willd. APNI*
Description: Procumbent to erect annual, 20–50 cm high, woolly.
Leaves oblanceolate to spathulate, 2.5–8 cm long, 4–18 mm wide, apex rounded to obtuse and mucronate, base attenuate, upper surface green and glabrescent, lower surface white-tomentose to woolly.
Heads 1.5–3 mm diam., in dense or loose terminal spikes subtended by 3 or 4 leafy bracts; involucral bracts oblong-elliptic to obovate, green to straw-coloured, margins and tips hyaline, woolly at base.
Achenes 0.3–0.5 mm long (mostly 4 mm), obovate, straw-coloured to light brown, microscopically papillate; pappus bristles cohering at the base, 1–2 mm long, minutely barbellate, not persistent.
Flowering: mainly September–October
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in sclerophyll forest and shrubland on sandy soils; coastal districts north from Nowra. Native of Amer.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC, *SC, *NWS, *CWS, *LHI
Other Australian states: *Qld
Text by E. A. Brown and contributors as listed under genus headings
Taxon concept:
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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