954 



COMPOSITAE 



Gnaphalium 



~50 



Map 2087 



Gnaphalium obtusifolium L 



56 



Map 2088 



Gnaphalium Macounn Green 



When a study is made of the two, it is easy to understand how they could 

 be confused. This species is perennial, stoloniferous, has papery, white, 

 finely striate, spreading involucral bracts while in Gnaphalium the bracts 

 are yellowish white or brownish, not striate, and subappressed, and this 

 species lacks the balsamic odor which is characteristic of Gnaphalium ob- 

 tusi folium. I have Anaphalis margaritacea from Elkhart County and 

 Potzger has collected it in Morgan County. These are the only specimens 

 I have seen. 



Newf. to Alaska, southw. to Va., Kans., and Oreg. 



8992. GNAPHALIUM L. Cudweed 



Bristles of the pappus distinct; bracts white or light brown. 



Plants tall, erect, simple below, with a large, more or less paniculate corymb; achenes 

 smooth; bracts pearly white. 

 Stems white-tomentose; leaves not decurrent on the stem; outer bracts obtuse. 



1. G. obtusifolium. 



Stems white-tomentose only in the inflorescence, the main stem green, glandular- 

 viscid; leaves decurrent on the stem; outer bracts mostly with short-acute tips. 



2. G. Macounii. 



Plants low, generally less than 2.3 dm high, diffusely branched above the base; 



achenes scabrous; bracts light brown; plants of dried-up muddy places 



3. G. uliginosum. 



Bristles of the pappus united at the base; bracts more or less purplish; inflorescence a 

 terminal and usually an interrupted spike 4. G. purpureum. 



1. Gnaphalium obtusifolium L. (Gnaphalium polycephalum Michx. 

 Gray, Man., ed. 7.) Old-field Balsam. Map 2087. Throughout the state 

 in dry soil, mostly in pasture fields, fallow fields, and open woodland. The 

 plant has several common names but I believe old-field balsam is the most 

 appropriate because it is the only species of the genus in Indiana that has 

 a balsamic odor by which it is easily distinguished. 



I knew of a case where a person who was suffering with flux and had 

 been given up by the attending physician was cured by drinking copious 

 draughts of milk in which this herb had been boiled. 



N. S. to Man., southw. to Fla., Kans., and Tex. 



