|
 An
Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand
Gamochaeta
spicata
(formerly Gnaphalium coarctatum)
purple
cudweed
Family
ASTERACEAE
Reproduced from
Common
Weeds of New Zealand
by Ian Popay, Paul Champion & Trevor James
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
Publication or other use of images or descriptive
text on these pages is unauthorised unless written permission is
obtained from the authors and publisher.
Appropriate acknowledgement
of the publication Common Weeds of New Zealand must always
be given.
Available from Nationwide Book Distributors
 
Very variable,
rosette-forming annual or biennial, distinguished by the stalkiess
leaves, with shiny, hairless upper surfaces and white, woolly-haired
lower surfaces. The leaves die off by the time of flowering. The
small,whitish flower heads are in dense clusters along the erect
flowering spike.
- Flowers
Inflorescence an elongated spike of numerous tight clusters of
small, whitish composite flower heads, each about 3 mm across.
Flowers Sep-Mar.
- Fruit
Small, minutely-pimpled achenes about 0.6 mm long.
- Leaves
Basal leaves stalkless, broadest towards the tip, 2-11 cm long.
Leaves usually dead at flowering. Lower stem leaves shiny and
hairless on upper surface and densely woolly underneath. Upper
stem leaves smaller, broader, sometimes folded.
- Stems
Erect or curved upwards at the tips, one or several arising from
the rosette.
- Roots
Fibrous.
Habitat
Wet or stony sites
in forest margins and clearings, lawns, pasture, cultivation,
river-beds and coastal places. A weed of some crops like asparagus.
Distribution
Common throughout
NI. Common in Nelson, Marlborough, Westland and Fiordland in SI.
Originally from South America.
Comments
Most common of the
naturalised spicate cudweeds.
Related
species
Several other introduced
cudweeds also occur in similar habitats. Gamochaeta purpurea
(formerly Gnaphalium purpureum) has leaves woolly-hairy
on both surfaces, and is scattered throughout NI. Gamochaeta
simplicicaulis (formerly Gnaphalium simplicicaule)
has thick stems and a leafy inflorescence, occurring north from
Waikato and in the Bay of Plenty. The native Japanese cudweed
Euchiton spaericus (formerly Gnaphalium sphaericum)
has dense, spherical flower heads about 2 cm in diameter, with
four leaves immediately below it, on upright stems about 20 cm
long and is common throughout NZ in lower rainfall (below 1000
mm) areas.
Derivation
of botanical name
Gamochaeta
(Gr.) = jointed bristles; spicata (Lat.) spike, ear of
grain.
Web-notes:
Weed Links
On this site
Reproduced from Common Weeds
of New Zealand:
External Links
 Weedbusters
New Zealand
- Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to
protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
- AgPest
- A free tool to assist farmers and agricultural professionals in decision-making regarding weed and pest identification, biology, impact and management.
 New Zealand Weeds Key
- An interactive identification key to the weeds of New Zealand. Developed at Landcare Research.
New
Zealand Plant Conservation Network naturalised plants
- Search for information on more than 2500 naturalised and weedy plants.
 New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
- Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology
of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms
and methods for modifying their effects."
-
 Massey
University Weeds Database- A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control.
It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on
identification and control. It also provides information on a university
paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
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