|
| Pseudognaphalium biolettii |
| Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower) |
| Flowers — color: white, size: 1/4", type: daisy (compound) |
Everlasting flowers consist of a hundred or so disk florets surrounded by a covering of dozens of phylarries. Most florets are female, but a few have stamens, too. Unlike most Aster family plants, there are no ray florets. The phylarries will open to expose the yellow florets and allow pollenization. After the seeds disperse, the phylarries remain to resemble a flower, hence "everlasting".
Flower clusters holding dozens of buds develop at the end of Bicolored Everlasting stems or branches. This species has white phylarries. An early bloomer [February].
Habit:
Bicolored Everlasting is a perennial herb with three relatives: California, pink, and purple everlasting, mostly annuals. It grows as a column several feet high and goes dormant in the summer. As it ages, it will produce branches, and subsidiary stems from the base. Lower leaves will eventually drop away from the woodier stem.
The leaves are lanceolate [spearhead-shaped], about 1/2" wide and several inches long, attaching directly to the greenish-white stem. The paleness of the stem and broader leaves distinguish this plant from its relatives. The leaves have prominent veins, and both leaves and stem are covered in short hairs. When rubbed, the leaves provide a very lemony aroma, to me more like lemon cleaner than real lemons.
The Chumash had medical uses for all the everlastings. Open sun in the coastal scrub, often in disturbed soil [next to a trail].