Common Erect Cudweed (Filago Germanica, L.)

The habitat of this plant is dry pastures and banks, where the soil is dry, and it is adapted to these conditions, having erect, reduced leaves, and the whole plant is woolly. The habit is erect, branched above, the stems rigid, cottony. The leaves are oblong, linear. The flowerheads are in the angles of the branches, the florets pale-brown, the heads obscurely 5-angled, 20 or more, in terminal dense clusters. The involucel is yellow at the tip. The fruit is rounded, covered with wart-like projections. The plant is 6 in. to 1 1/2 ft. in height, and flowers in July and August, being a herbaceous annual.

Cudweed (Filago Apiculala, G. E. Smith)

The habitat of this plant is sandy places. The habit is similar to that of F. germanica, but it is taller or branched, and erect. The stem is rigid and cottony. The leaves are blunt, broader, with a small hard point at the tip. The flowerheads are acutely 5-angled, and one or two leaves overtop them. The florets are as in F. germanica. The bracts are purple and boat-shaped. The tip of the involucel is red. The plant is green, not grey, as in the last. The flower smells like Tansy. The fruit is as in the common Erect Cudweed. The plant is 6 in. to 1 ft. in height, and flowers in July and August, being annual and herbaceous.

Cudweed (Filago Spathulata, Presl)

The habitat of this plant is dry fields, waysides. The habit is as in the two last, but the stem is short and prostrate, branched from the base, the branches horizontal, the leaves flat, spoon-shaped, and the acute leaves are longer than the 5-angled flowerheads. The involucral bracts are boat-shaped. The tips of the involucel are pale yellow. The florets are not sunk in the wool. The plant is 6 in. to 1 ft. in height, and flowers in July and August, being a herbaceous annual.

French Cudweed (Filago Gallica, L.)

The habitat of this plant is sandy and dry gravelly fields. The habit is erect, the stem very slender, much branched regularly into 2 forks. The leaves are linear, awl-shaped, and the margin is turned back, as in plants adapted to dry conditions. The plant is grey, and covered with silky wool. The florets are yellow, in 3-6 stalkless woolly heads in the axils, the leaves exceeding them. The fruit is flattened at the side and covered with wart-like projections. The plant is 6-8 in. in height, and flowers between July and September, being a herbaceous annual.

Jersey Cudweed (Gnaphalium Inteo-Album, L.)

The habitat of this plant is dry places, light soils, where it is sporadic. The habit is prostrate below, then ascending or erect. The whole plant is densely cottony. The stems are numerous and leafy, simple or branched at the base, forming corymbs above. The leaves are linear to oblong, blunt or acute, the margin wavy, woolly both sides, half-clasping, the lower leaves broader at the extremity, the upper narrower, acute. The flowerheads are clustered at the extremity in leafless dense corymbs. The involucre is straw-coloured. The florets are pale-yellow, tinged with red. The scales of the involucre are membranous and transparent. The female ray florets are in many series. The fruit is papillose. The plant is 6-12 in. high, flowering in July and August, and is a herbaceous annual.