Woolly cottonflower

Paronychia lanuginosa Poiret in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl., suppl. 4: 303. 1816; Guilleminea lanuginosa (Poiret) Moquin-Tandon ex Bentham & Hooker f.

Plants 1-7 dm diam. Stems prostrate to decumbent, 0.4-1 mm diam., sparsely pilose to strongly woolly-villous with whitish, straight to wavy-crinkled hairs. Leaves basal and cauline; basal leaves with petiole 0.5-2 cm, blade linear or linear-oblanceolate to spatulate, 1.6 -9.7 × 0.2-1(-1.7) cm; cauline leaves with winged petiole 1-5 mm, blade ovate, elliptic-ovate elliptic, oblong-elliptic, oblong, or oblong-ovate, (0.1-)0.5-1.8(-3.3) × (0.1-)0.2-0.7 (-1.3) cm, glabrous or sparsely to densely pilose to strigose. Glomerules white, globose to cylindric, 1-10 × 5-8 mm. Flowers sessile; tepals green, oblong-lanceolate, outer tepals 2.5-4 mm, inner tepals 2.5-3.6 mm, chartaceous, apex acuminate, woolly-villous on exposed surfaces. Utricles included within tepals, 1.4-2 mm. Seeds 0.8-1.2 × 0.6-0.9 mm.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): North America, Mexico, West Indies.