About Euchiton involucratus (G.Forst.) Holub
Euchiton involucratus, commonly called common cudweed, is an herbaceous species belonging to the tribe Gnaphalieae in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is native to Australia and New Zealand, and has become sparingly naturalized in a small number of scattered locations across the United States, specifically in California and Massachusetts. This species is a biennial or perennial herb that grows up to 40 cm (16 inches) tall, spreading through stolons that run along the ground surface. Its stems are typically unbranched and covered in white woolly hairs. The leaves are narrowly lance-shaped, with a green, shiny upper surface and a white, woolly lower surface. The plant produces flower heads arranged in a hemispheric cluster at the top of its stem, and often also produces smaller clusters in the axils of its leaves. Each individual flower head is cylindrical, with brown or copper-colored bracts on the outside. Each head contains 80 to 150 pistillate flowers arranged around the edge, plus 3 to 7 bisexual florets located toward the center.
