Filago vulgaris Common Cudweed

A spring or winter annual with a dense, woolly covering of whitish-grey hairs which give it a silvery-grey colour. It is larger than Small Cudweed (Filago minima), 6cm-20cm tall, thicker set and produces clusters of conspicuous, globular heads of inconspicuous yellow flowers. Like Small Cudweed it grows in relatively bare skeletal or gravelly soils, including coal tips, the edges of forest roads and open mosaic habitats on industrial (or formally industrial) sites. Despite its name it is not particularly common in Britain and has been lost from many areas as a result of agricultural improvenments and the use of hebicides. Although it is still widespread, it has a scattered distribution and it is rather local overall. It is scarce or absent in much of Wales and most common in the south. In West Glamorgan it is largely a species of skeletal or gravelly open mosaic sites near the coast but it is also found occasionally on coal tips and the gravelled edges of forest roads in the South Wales Coalfield. There is some evidence that its seeds may survive in long-lived seed banks in the soil and plants may occur large numbers in some years after distubance.

Native

Also known as Filago germanica L., non Huds.