Euchiton sphaericus |
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globe cotton-leaf, star-cudweed, tropical creeping cudweed |
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Habit | Annuals, 5–80 cm; taprooted; stolons absent. |
Aerial stems | simple or branched from bases (sometimes branched from leaf axils), thinly and persistently white-tomentose. |
Leaves | basal and proximal cauline withering before flowering (blades 1-nerved, oblanceolate to spatulate); cauline 8–12, blades linear, 2–4 cm × 1–2 mm (largest at midstem), bases not clasping, margins revolute, sometimes undulate, abaxial faces white, tomentose, adaxial faces green, glabrous. |
Bracts | subtending heads 4–8, 10–30 mm, surpassing heads. |
Involucres | 3.5–4 mm. |
Pistillate florets | 16–26. |
Bisexual florets | 1. |
Phyllaries | brownish to tawny, sometimes purple-tinged (shiny), elliptic-lanceolate, apices acute. |
Heads | in globose clusters 10–20 mm diam. |
Pappus | bristles distinct or basally coherent (falling in groups). |
2n | = 28. |
Euchiton sphaericus |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Oct. |
Habitat | Grassy open places in wooded areas, disturbed soils, recent clearings |
Elevation | 30–700 m (100–2300 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; se Asia; Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Guinea, New Zealand); Australia [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | In California and Hawaii, plants of Euchiton sphaericus have been identified as Gnaphalium japonicum; annual duration, slender taproots, non-clasping leaf bases, and single bisexual florets establish the correct identity of E. sphaericus. It “varies enormously in length, position and degree of branching, and the branches may be either vegetative or flower-bearing” (D. G. Drury 1972). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 19, p. 441. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Euchiton |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Gnaphalium sphaericum |
Name authority | (Willdenow) Anderberg: Opera Bot. 104: 167. (1991) |
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