Pseudognaphalium thermale

Small headed cudweed

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Small headed cudweed is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascades, central and southern Sierra Nevada, southern California mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in openings in forest, riverbeds, banks, and roadsides at elevations of 100 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces white to cream-colored flowers in small clustered heads with delicate, shiny phyllaries. Growing with loosely tomentose stems 20 to 70 centimeters tall, it has a distinctive scented herbage with an open, somewhat loose structure. Its leaves are narrowly oblanceolate, 3 to 8 centimeters long and 3 to 6 millimeters wide, with a soft, hairy surface and glandular undersides. The fruit is characterized by fine ridges and a densely roughened texture.

Habitat: Openings in forest, riverbeds, banks, roadsides

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 100-2500 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, CaRH, c&amps SNF, SNH, SnGb, SnBr, SnJt, PR (Cuyamaca Mtns), SNE

California counties: San Bernardino, Fresno, Inyo, Monterey, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Kern, Calaveras, El Dorado, Lassen, Mendocino, Mono, Nevada, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Tulare, Butte, Riverside, Yuba, Placer, Tehama, Humboldt, Napa, Contra Costa, Amador, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Madera, Alameda, Marin, Alpine, Los Angeles, Del Norte, Modoc, Trinity, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, Solano, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sacramento

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