Pseudognaphalium canescens

Wright's cudweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Wright's cudweed is a California native perennial found in central Sierra Nevada, southern California coast, San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, and eastern desert mountains in rocky pine woodland sites at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from August to October, this plant produces white flowers in loose, rounded clusters with involucres 4 to 5 millimeters long. Growing with stems 20 to 100 centimeters tall that are persistently tomentose and not glandular, it develops an herbaceous to somewhat woody habit. Its leaves are oblanceolate, 2 to 4 centimeters long and 2 to 8 millimeters wide, with softly contrasting surfaces densely covered in woolly white hairs. The fruit is distinctively ridged and weakly roughened with small papillae.

Habitat: Rocky sites, pine woodland

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: c SNH, SCo, SnGb, SnBr, PR, DMtns

California counties: San Diego, Calaveras, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, El Dorado, Amador, Butte, Fresno, Lake, Marin, Mariposa, Nevada, Plumas, Santa Barbara, Mono, Contra Costa, Inyo, San Luis Obispo, Tuolumne, Kern, Ventura

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.