Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Gamochaeta antillana

Common name

Cudweed

Family

Asteraceae

Where found

Weed. North from south of Campbelltown.

Notes

Introduced annual herb to 0.4 m high. Stems hairy, the hairs interlacing. Basal leaves in a rosette, usually withering before flowering. Stem leaves alternating up the stems. Leaves 2–4 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, tips blunt to pointed and mucronate, bases slightly stem-clasping, both surfaces white-tomentose. Flower heads 2.5–3 mm long, bell-shaped, slightly cobwebby at the base. Florets 3–5 per flower head, usually purple at the top. Bracts tightly surrounding the flower heads with tips sometimes purplish-tinged, inner bracts usually purple, with whitish tips, tinged with brown. Flower heads initially in uninterrupted, cylindrical spikes mostly 3–4 cm long, 8–12 mm wide, usually becoming interrupted in late flowering; with leaflike bracts throughout the flowering time.

PlantNET description with photos of dried plants:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Gamochaeta~antillana (accessed 18 January 2021)

Flora of North America description:  http://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066791 (accessed 18 January 2021)