Japanese name: セイタカハハコグサ（背高母子草） Scientific name:Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum
[Overview]
An annual or biennial 20–40 cm tall, growing in vacant lots and by roadsides.
The stems usually branch from the base and are covered with white cottony hairs.
The leaves are simple and alternate, borne in large numbers pointing upward. The leaves at the base of the stem are broadly spatulate to oblanceolate, while the middle leaves are oblong to linear, 2–5 cm long and 0.2–0.5 cm wide, with a slightly pointed tip and a slightly widened base that half clasps the stem.
Both surfaces of the leaves are densely covered with cottony hairs and are white.
About 10 flower heads are clustered at the tip of a long stalk.
The involucre of the flower is pale brown.
The fruit is an achene with a pappus.
[History]
After World War II, naturalization was confirmed in the Ryukyu Islands, and it is thought to have become naturalized in Honshu at about the same time.
