Gnaphalium pensylvanicum Willd.
Annual, 10-40 cm tall, usually branched only at base; stems 1-few, erect or ascending. Basal lvs mostly 0 at flowering, sometimes present and withered. Lower cauline lvs apetiolate, sparsely tomentose on upper surface, densely tomentose on lower, ± concolorous to somewhat discolorous, plane, usually obovate and long-cuneate, sometimes oblanceolate, obtuse to acute, mucronate, flat or slightly undulate, (10)-20-40-(60) × 3-8-(12) mm; upper cauline lvs similar but smaller, narrower and broader based, sometimes folded. Capitula in dense terminal and axillary clusters; clusters usually forming dense terminal spikes at ends of branches and scattered below. Involucral bracts oblong, obtuse to apiculate, 2.5-3 mm long; stereome green; lamina pale brown; gap and margins clear; outer bracts almost covered by hairs. Achenes minutely papillate, 0.4-0.5 mm long.
K.: Raoul Id.
Temperate and subtropical America 1970
Waste places, coastal sites, scrubland, local.
A few Kermadec specimens cannot be satisfactorily assigned to either G. pensylvanicum or G. subfalcatum; some collections have the flat lower cauline lvs of these spp., but folded upper lvs, diffuse infls and pale bracts as in G. calviceps. G. pensylvanicum is treated at infraspecific level within G. purpureum by some authors, but can be distinguished by the shorter bracts, very small achenes, and the hairs covering the outer bracts.
