Everlastings, Pearly

Gnaphalium (cudweed; everlasting)

..... AE ..... AT .....
..... basal rosette narrow, sessile lance-shaped, not clasping distinctly clasping stem narrow, lance-shaped, toothed
infl not narrow, 2-3mm; fl heads brownish in center growing in several compact clusters, closely surrounded by lvs ..... ..... ..... low cudweed (4.uliginosum) streambanks & waste pls; wet or dry; Eurp weed, nearly throughout
infl narrow, 3-5mm; light borwn, often tinged with anthocyanin purple c.w. (3.purpureum) sandy soil & waste places; ME to Mexico ..... ..... .....
infl 5-7mm; flower heads in branching clusters ..... sweet everlasting (5.obtusifolium) common weed; s to FL

(6.helleri) dry, commonly sandy soil, often in woods; ME to GA

 clammy everlasting (7.macountii) open places; QE to WV, TN & Mexico .....

Anaphalis (pearly everlasting)

..... AE; lvs narrow; stem & lf undersides white woolly
fl heads composed of sev ranks of numerous, dry pearly-white, petal-like bracts; staminate heads have a yellow tuft in center pearly everlasting (1.margaritacea) various habitats, chiefly dry & open; s to VA

Kalm. The Gnaphalium margaritaceum grows in astonishing quantities upon all uncultivated fields, glades, hills and the like. Its height varies with the soil and location. Sometimes it is very ramose and sometimes very small. It has a strong but agreeable smell. The English call it 'life everlasting,' for its flowers, which consists chiefly of dry, shining, silvery leaves do not change when dried. This plant is now everywhere in full blossom. But some have already lost their flowers and are beginning to drop the seeds. The English ladies are accustomed to gather great quantities of this life everlasting and to pick them with the stalks. For they put them into pots, with or without water, amongst other fine flowers which they gather in the gardens and in the fields, and place them as an ornament in the rooms. English ladies in general are much inclined to keep flowers all summer long about or upon the chimneys, upon a table or before the windows, either on account of their beauty or because of their sweet scent. The above-mentioned Gnaphalium was one of those which they kept in their rooms during the winter, because its flowers never altered from what they were when they grew in the ground. Mr. Bartram told me another use of this plant: a decoction of the flowers and stalks Is used to bathe pained or bruised parts of the body, or they may be rubbed with the plant itself tied up in a thin cloth or bag. pp. 70-71