Filago spp.

Cottonrose

Europe, Mediterranean, North Africa, and western and central Asia

Overview

Filago spp. is a genus of small, woolly annual herbs in the daisy family (Asteraceae), native to Europe, the Mediterranean region, North Africa, and western and central Asia, with several species naturalized in North America and Australia. Plants are slender and erect to spreading, typically 2-12 inches (5-30 cm) tall, and clothed throughout in dense white to grey woolly hairs that give the stems and narrow leaves a felted appearance. The leaves are small, untoothed, and crowded along the stems. Flower heads are tiny and lack showy ray florets; instead, the minute disc flowers are packed into rounded clusters (glomerules) wrapped in woolly, chaffy bracts and gathered at the stem tips and in the leaf forks. Blooming in late spring and summer, the heads are yellowish to brown and are easily overlooked. After flowering, the plants set numerous tiny seeds and die, completing their cycle in a single season. Filago spp. species grow on dry, open, sandy or gravelly ground, including fields, roadsides, and disturbed sites, and several are weeds of cultivated land. The woolly covering reduces water loss, but the plants are short-lived and collapse once seed is shed.

Native Range

Filago spp. is native to Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa, and western and central Asia, growing on dry, open, sandy and stony ground. Several species have naturalized as weeds in North America, southern Africa, and Australia.

Suggested Uses

Filago spp. is rarely cultivated and has no established garden role. It appears mainly in dry, sandy wild habitats and as a weed of arable land, and is occasionally noted in botanical and restoration collections that document native grassland and sandy-soil flora.

How to Identify

Recognized by its small size and dense white-woolly coating over stems and narrow leaves, giving a soft, felted, grey appearance. The tiny flower heads have no petals and sit in tight rounded clusters wrapped in chaffy bracts at the stem tips and leaf forks. The combination of woolly annual habit and clustered, rayless heads separates Filago spp. from larger cudweeds in related genera such as Pseudognaphalium spp..

Appearance

Size & Dimensions

Height2" - 1'

Width/Spread2" - 8"

Colors

Flower Colors

Foliage Colors

Fall Foliage Colors

Bloom Information

Bloom Period

~10 weeks

Spring Summer

Flowering occurs through late spring and summer, generally May to August. The clustered heads are yellowish to pale brown and wind- or self-pollinated, with little nectar to draw insects. Seed ripens quickly, and dry heads persist on the dead stems into autumn.

Detailed Descriptions

Flower Description

yellowish to brown

Foliage Description

grey-green to silvery

Growing Conditions

Sun Requirements

SunFull Sun

Requires 6-12 hours of direct sunlight daily

• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight

• Partial Shade: 3-6 hours of direct sunlight

• Full Shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight

Soil Requirements

pH Range5.5 - 7.5(Neutral)

357912

Soil Types

sand rocky loam

Drainagedry

Water & Climate

Water Needs

Low

Drought Tolerance

Drought tolerant when established

Care & Maintenance

Care Guide

Filago spp. grows in full sun on poor, dry, free-draining sandy or gravelly soils and tolerates drought and low fertility. As an annual it completes its life cycle in one season and is raised, where grown at all, from seed sown directly in spring. Plants need no irrigation or feeding and decline on rich or waterlogged ground. In cultivated fields and gardens the genus behaves as a minor weed of open soil. No significant pests or diseases trouble it.

Pruning

Pruning is not applicable to these short-lived annuals. Where plants are unwanted, they are pulled or hoed before the woolly seed heads ripen and shed. Dead stems are cleared at the end of the season.