Purple Cudweed: Gnaphalium purpureum
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Weed Description: A low-growing
summer or winter annual, or biennial, that forms a rosette of grayish green woolly
foliage. Found throughout the United States but most common in the South. Stems: Elongating stems from the rosette do not usually branch and are grayish-white and woolly in appearance. |
| Seedling: Cotyledons smooth,
grayish green, without petioles, rounded to oval, 1.5-2.5 mm long, 0.75-1 mm wide.
Young leaves taper from the tip to a broad petiole. Flowers: Occur in clusters at the ends of the stems. Each flower is small, tannish-white with bracts that are light brown, pink or purple. Fruit: An achene with an attached bristly pappus to aide in weed dispersal. |
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| Leaves: Arise from the rosette
or connected to the elongating stem (cauline). Rosette leaves 4 inches long, approximately
3/4 inch wide. Stem leaves alternate, grayish-white and woolly, without petioles
(sessile), and progressively reduced in size moving up the stem. Leaf margins may be
wavy or without teeth (entire). Roots: Taproot with a secondary fibrous root system. Identifying Characteristics: Stems and foliage with distinct white-woolly foliage. |