HerbWildAnnualMedicinal

Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum (L.) Hilliard & B.L.Burtt

Weedy cudweed

Synonym: Gnaphalium luteoalbum L

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Description

Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum is an erect annual herb, usually 15–80 cm tall, densely covered with white woolly hairs, giving the entire plant a greyish appearance. Stems are simple or sparsely branched. Leaves are alternate, linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, sessile, densely woolly on both surfaces, and entire. Flower heads are numerous, small, cylindrical, and arranged in dense terminal clusters. The involucral bracts are dry, papery, and pale yellow to straw-colored. Disc florets are yellowish, while ray florets are minute and inconspicuous. Fruits are small ribbed achenes bearing a white pappus of fine bristles.

Diagnostic Characters

Vegetative

Entire plant densely covered with white woolly hairs.

Floral

Small straw-colored flower heads arranged in dense terminal clusters.

Fruit & Seed

Ribbed achenes with a conspicuous white pappus.

Distribution

Native range: Europe, Asia, and North Africa.

Introduced range: Widely naturalized in temperate and subtropical regions worldwide.

In Pakistan: Common in northern Pakistan, particularly in moist cultivated fields, grasslands, and roadsides.

Phenology

Flowering

Fruiting

Flowering: February–June Fruiting: March–July

Ethnobotany & Uses

Uses

Used in traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory and wound-healing herb. Young plants are occasionally grazed by livestock. Contributes to early-season nectar resources for insects.

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Where it grows on campus

This species is on the campus floristic list but was not pinned during the GPS mapping survey, so it has no map records yet.

Taxonomic Notes

Formerly treated under the genus Gnaphalium, this species is now placed in Pseudognaphalium based on modern taxonomic studies. It is readily recognized by its dense white woolly covering and clusters of papery yellowish flower heads. The species is accepted by Flora of Pakistan, Plants of the World Online (POWO), and World Flora Online (WFO).