Pseudognaphalium ramosissimum

Pink cudweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: biennial · Native

Pink cudweed is a California native biennial found in western Northwestern California, western Central Western California, Southern California, northern Channel Islands, Western Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in dry, open slopes, woodland, sandy fields, and dunes at elevations below 600 meters. Flowering from July to September, this plant produces white to pink flowers in small panicle-like clusters with short-cylindric involucres. Growing with erect, scented stems 50 to 150 centimeters tall that are loosely tomentose and stalked-glandular, it has a distinctive branching habit. Its leaves are crowded near the base, linear to lanceolate, 3 to 7 centimeters long with tightly curled margins and a loosely hairy surface. The plant's phyllaries are particularly notable, with ovate to ovate-oblong bracts that are generally pink, sometimes white or greenish, and loosely tomentose at the base.

Habitat: Dry, open slopes, woodland, sandy fields, dunes

Bloom period: Jul-Sep

Elevation: < 600 m

Bioregions: w NW, w CW, SCo, n ChI, WTR, SnGb, PR.

California counties: Ventura, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Fresno

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