Flora of North America species comparison

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Pseudognaphalium microcephalum

Pseudognaphalium saxicola

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

cliff cudweed
Habit Perennials, (30–)50–100 cm; taprooted. Annuals, 4–15(–30) cm; taprooted.
Stems

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

(filiform) persistently tomentose (indument a loose, envelope-like, transparent haze of extremely thin hairs, doubling apparent stem width), 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 elliptic-oblanceolate to oblanceolate, 0.5–3 cm × 2–6 mm (largest at midstem), bases not clasping, not decurrent, margins flat, faces concolor, green, thinly arachnoid-tomentose to glabrate, not glandular (veiny reticulum evident).
Involucres

turbinate-campanulate, 5–6 mm.

turbinate, 4–5 mm.
Pistillate florets

29–49.

25–28.
Bisexual florets

5–9.

6–7.
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 3(–4) series, whitish to slightly tawny (hyaline, shiny), narrowly triangular to narrowly oblong-triangular, glabrous.
Heads

in loose, corymbiform arrays.

(2–4) in terminal, capitate clusters (usually immediately subtended by distalmost cauline leaf, clusters sometimes in subcorymbiform arrays).
Cypselae

ridged, smooth to weakly papillate-roughened.

not ridged, smooth.
2n

= 28.

Pseudognaphalium microcephalum

Pseudognaphalium saxicola
Phenology Flowering (Apr–)Jun–Aug(–Nov). Flowering (Jul–)Aug–Sep.
Habitat Grassy hillsides, gravelly canyon bottoms, chaparral, coastal sage scrub Mostly bare sandstone cliff faces, ledges, and cracks, s- to e-facing, commonly shaded
Elevation 50–900(–1800) m (200–3000(–5900) ft) 200–300 m (700–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
WI
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 saxicola probably is an evolutionary derivative of P. obtusifolium. Plants of P. saxicola are relatively small and have relatively few, relatively small heads and occur in a specialized habitat; they constitute the only narrowly endemic species of Pseudognaphalium in the United States. Depauperate individuals of P. obtusifolium from localities over its whole geographic range may sometimes be as short as 5–10 cm and similar in habit to P. saxicola; such plants differ from P. saxicola in their close and denser stem vestiture, bicolor and relatively narrow leaves, larger heads with greater numbers of pistillate florets, and broader phyllaries with rounded apices.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 419. FNA vol. 19, p. 420.
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. beneolens, 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. stramineum, P. thermale, P. viscosum
Synonyms Gnaphalium microcephalum, Gnaphalium albidum, Gnaphalium canescens subsp. microcephalum, P. canescens subsp. microcephalum Gnaphalium saxicola, Gnaphalium obtusifolium var. saxicola, P. obtusifolium var. saxicola
Name authority (Nuttall) Anderberg: Opera Bot. 104: 147. (1991) (Fassett) H. E. Ballard & Feller: Sida 21: 777. (2004)
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).



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