spoonleaf purple everlasting
Family
AsteraceaeScientific Name
Gnaphalium purpureum
Other Common Names:
chafe weed
catfoot
rabbit tobacco
everlasting
purple cudweed
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Gnaphalium purpureum
Habit
May grow in winter or summer or act as a biennial. Seeds germinate soon after they are shed. Major flowering occurs from mid-spring to early summer and from August to September. In the winter months the plant may over-winter as a rosette.
Leaves
Rosette leaves that grow 10 cm long and 2 cm wide. From the rosette leaves grows and elongating stem that is white wooly and bracts form off the stem. The erect wooly stem may reach 40 cm in height.
Identifying Characteristics
White wooly surface on under side of leaves.
Flower Seed Head
Flower clusters are formed at the ends of the erect stems. Individual flowers are small, tannish white. Bracts are found at upper portion of the flowering spike and are light brown, often purple or pink.
Seed Fruit
Seeds are oval shaped and 0.5-0.7 mm in length.
Where Found
Found in dry, sandy soils. Cudweed is a common weed of low-maintenance turfgrass. Most common is the southern United States.
Growth Habit
upright and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
larger
Dominant Flower Color
Varies:
white,
purple
Flower Symmetry
radial symmetery
Leaf Hairs
has hairs
Leaf Shape
spatulate
Leaf Arrangement
alternate
Leaf Margin
entire
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
has hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
taproot
Life Cycle
winter annual
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb