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 microcephalum

Pseudognaphalium beneolens

felt-leaf everlasting, San Diego rabbit-tobacco, Wright's cudweed

cudweed, fragrant rabbit-tobacco, Wright's cudweed
Habit Perennials, (30–)50–100 cm; taprooted. Annuals or short-lived perennials, 30–80(–110) cm; taprooted.
Stems

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

persistently tomentose, not glandular.
Leaf

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.

blades mostly linear, 3–6 cm × 1.5–3.5 mm (sometimes smaller distally), bases not clasping, decurrent 5–15 mm, margins flat, faces concolor, loosely tomentose, not glandular.
Involucres

turbinate-campanulate, 5–6 mm.

turbinate-campanulate, 5–6 mm.
Pistillate florets

29–49.

(39–)44–69.
Bisexual florets

5–9.

5–8(–11).
Phyllaries

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).

in (4–)5–6(–7) series, white (opaque, dull to shiny), ovate to ovate-oblong (inner usually with filiform keel and slight apiculum), glabrous.
Heads

in loose, corymbiform arrays.

usually in loose, paniculiform arrays.
Cypselae

ridged, smooth to weakly papillate-roughened.

ridged, smooth or weakly papillate-roughened.
2n

= 28.

= 14.

Pseudognaphalium microcephalum

Pseudognaphalium beneolens
Phenology Flowering (Apr–)Jun–Aug(–Nov). Flowering (Apr–)Jun–Oct.
Habitat Grassy hillsides, gravelly canyon bottoms, chaparral, coastal sage scrub Dry, open slopes and ridges, streambeds, road banks and other disturbed sites, sandy flats, dunes, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, yellow pine, foothill pine, blue oak woodland
Elevation 50–900(–1800) m (200–3000(–5900) ft) (1–)50–800(–2000) m ((0–)200–2600(–6600) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

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.)

Pseudognaphalium beneolens differs from P. thermale in its leaves linear throughout, heads usually in elongate, paniculiform arrays, larger heads (greater numbers of phyllaries in greater numbers of series) with phyllaries more opaque and duller, and greater numbers of bisexual florets. The cauline leaves of P. beneolens tend to become curving-coiling. In areas of sympatry, habitats of P. beneolens are characteristically at lower elevations than those of P. thermale.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 419. 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. 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
P. arizonicum, P. austrotexanum, P. biolettii, P. californicum, P. canescens, P. helleri, 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
Synonyms Gnaphalium microcephalum, Gnaphalium albidum, Gnaphalium canescens subsp. microcephalum, P. canescens subsp. microcephalum Gnaphalium beneolens, Gnaphalium canescens subsp. beneolens, P. canescens subsp. beneolens
Name authority (Nuttall) Anderberg: Opera Bot. 104: 147. (1991) (Davidson) 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