Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Pseudognaphalium helleri

Pseudognaphalium microcephalum

Heller's cudweed, Heller's rabbit-tobacco

felt-leaf everlasting, San Diego rabbit-tobacco, Wright's cudweed
Habit Annuals (fragrant), 30–100 cm; fibrous-rooted (roots relatively thick and lignescent). Perennials, (30–)50–100 cm; taprooted.
Stems

greenish, glandular-villous (without persistent tomentum, stipitate glands mostly 0.3–1 mm, often variable, stalks broadened toward bases, about equaling gland widths).

persistently grayish tomentose, not glandular, (3–5 mm diam. near bases).
Leaf

blades mostly oblong-lanceolate, 2.5–7 cm × 4–20 mm, bases not clasping, not decurrent, margins flat, faces bicolor, abaxial white to gray with lightly persistent tomentum, adaxial green, both minutely stipitate-glandular.

blades narrowly oblanceolate, 2–5(–8) cm × 5–10(–18) mm (gradually smaller distally, becoming lanceolate), bases not clasping, not decurrent, margins flat, faces weakly bicolor, tomentose (adaxial less densely), not glandular.
Involucres

campanulate, 6–7 mm.

turbinate-campanulate, 5–6 mm.
Pistillate florets

83–107.

29–49.
Bisexual florets

9–15.

5–9.
Phyllaries

in 4–6 series, white (opaque, shiny), ovate to ovate-oblong or oblong, ± tomentose.

in 4–5 series, white (opaque, dull), ovate to oblong-ovate (inner narrower, all usually with filiform but definitely thickened keel and slight apiculum), tomentose (at least bases).
Heads

in corymbiform arrays.

in loose, corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

ridged, smooth.

ridged, smooth to weakly papillate-roughened.
2n

= 28.

Pseudognaphalium helleri

Pseudognaphalium microcephalum
Phenology Flowering Sep–Oct(–Nov). Flowering (Apr–)Jun–Aug(–Nov).
Habitat Dry woods and openings, clay and sandy clay, sand hills Grassy hillsides, gravelly canyon bottoms, chaparral, coastal sage scrub
Elevation 10–300 m (0–1000 ft) 50–900(–1800) m (200–3000(–5900) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Pseudognaphalium helleri and P. micradenium are similar to P. obtusifolium in most features; both differ in their glandular stems without the persistent whitish tomentum of P. obtusifolium.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Pseudognaphalium microcephalum is characterized by stems commonly stiffly erect and slightly zigzag distally, relatively thick (3–5 mm diam. near bases), and closely grayish tomentose, leaves oblanceolate, sessile, sometimes clasping, not decurrent, and weakly bicolor, and heads usually in open, corymbiform arrays.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 421. FNA vol. 19, p. 419.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Pseudognaphalium Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Pseudognaphalium
Sibling taxa
P. arizonicum, P. austrotexanum, P. beneolens, P. biolettii, P. californicum, P. canescens, P. jaliscense, P. leucocephalum, P. luteoalbum, P. macounii, P. micradenium, P. microcephalum, P. obtusifolium, P. pringlei, P. ramosissimum, P. roseum, P. saxicola, P. stramineum, P. thermale, P. viscosum
P. arizonicum, P. austrotexanum, P. beneolens, P. biolettii, P. californicum, P. canescens, P. helleri, P. jaliscense, P. leucocephalum, P. luteoalbum, P. macounii, P. micradenium, P. obtusifolium, P. pringlei, P. ramosissimum, P. roseum, P. saxicola, P. stramineum, P. thermale, P. viscosum
Synonyms Gnaphalium helleri, Gnaphalium obtusifolium var. helleri Gnaphalium microcephalum, Gnaphalium albidum, Gnaphalium canescens subsp. microcephalum, P. canescens subsp. microcephalum
Name authority (Britton) Anderberg: Opera Bot. 104: 147. (1991) (Nuttall) Anderberg: Opera Bot. 104: 147. (1991)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers