''Euchiton sphaericus'', the star cudweed or tropical creeping cudweed, is a herb native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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, and

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. It has become naturalized in a few places in the United States (

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

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).Floria of North America, ''Euchiton sphaericus'' (Willdenow) Anderberg, 1991. Star-cudweed
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Description

''Euchiton sphaericus'' grows as an erect annual herb up to 80 centimetres (32 inches) high, forming a taproot. Stems are covered with white woolly hairs. Leaves are green and hairless above, white and woolly underneath. The plant produces spherical clusters of flower heads. Heads have yellow, cream or brown flowers.

Taxonomy

The species was first published as ''Gnaphalium sphaericum'' by

Carl Ludwig Willdenow Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was als ...

in 1809. In 1838 Augustin Pyramus de Candolle demoted it to a variety of ''Gnaphalium involucratum'' (now '' Euchiton involucratus'') as ''Gnaphalium involucratum'' var. ''simplex'', but this was not upheld. In 1974

Josef Holub Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan spe ...

transferred it into ''

Euchiton ''Euchiton'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Australasia and the Pacific. Some have been introduced far outside their native ranges. These are annual and perennial herbs. Some have rhizomes, and most ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

''Euchiton sphaericus'' is widespread in Australia, occurring in all 6 states plus

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5405860 Gnaphalieae Asterales of Australia Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Norfolk Island Plants described in 1809 Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Willdenow