Feltleaf or white everlasting is an erect, densely white-tomentose, nearly odorless, herbaceous biennial to short-lived perennial growing to 4'-5' tall.  The leaves are alternate, sessile, oblanceolate to spatulate and spreading to 2" long, not decurrent on the stem.  The flowering heads are in small clusters at the ends of the branchlets, with ovoid involucres 1/4" high and whitish papery bracts that are ovate (outer) and oblong (inner).  The heads are disciform, meaning that they have two kinds of flowers, pale green disk flowers (35-40) and very small pistillate flowers.  Feltleaf everlasting was formerly named Gnaphalium microcephalum, but the Jepson Manual has placed this species along with G. beneolens and G. thermale into the species Gnaphalium canescens.  It is a fairly common inhabitant of dry slopes and open, grassy places in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and southern oak woodlands below 4000' from north Baja to central California, blooming from July to October.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Gnaphalium 2) canescens 3) microcephalum.
Pronunciation: na-FAY-lee-um kan-ES-ens my-kro-sef-AY-la.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.