Pseudognaphalium leucocephalum

White rabbit-tobacco, White Rabbit-Tobacco

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

White rabbit-tobacco is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native perennial found in southern California coastal areas, San Bernardino Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in sandy or gravelly stream bottoms and canyon habitats at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces white flowers in rounded or flat-topped clusters with bright white, opaque involucres 5 to 6 millimeters long. Growing with densely white-tomentose stems 30 to 70 centimeters tall that are scented and have stalked-glandular hairs, it has a distinctive biennial or short-lived perennial habit. Its linear to lance-linear leaves are 3 to 7 centimeters long, crowded on the stem, with strongly curled margins and green upper surfaces densely covered in stalked glands. The fruit is subtly ridged and smooth, with 66 to 85 pistillate flowers and 29 to 44 disk flowers per cluster.

Habitat: Sandy or gravelly benches, dry stream bottoms, canyon bottoms

Bloom period: Jul-Oct

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: SCo, SnBr, PR

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