Common Cudweed - Filago germanica

Alternative names
Filago vulgaris
Description

Short to low with dense grey-white hairs, stems erect. Flower heads yellow in dense rounded clusters sometimes of 20 or more, 10 to 14 mm across.

Similar Species

Filago (Logfia) minima

Identification difficulty
ID guidance

10-40 flower-heads in each cluster; outer phyllaries (bracts under flower head) acuminate and erect in fruit.

Small Cudweed (F minima) has 2-8 in each cluster, and phyllaries are obtuse to subacute; it is scarce in VC55

Recording advice

A photograph of the whole plant in flower (RPR)

Habitat

Heathy grassland, embankments and disturbed ground.

When to see it

July and August.

Life History

Annual.

UK Status

Found mainly south of a line from the Severn to the Humber it is not as common as the name suggests being listed as 'near threatened' in Great Britain.

VC55 Status

Only occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi and Evans 1988) it was found in 10 of the 617 tetrads, and in the Flora of Rutland (Messenger 1971) in 10 tetrads

In the current checklist (Jeeves 2011) it is listed as Native; disturbed ground on well-drained soils, especially quarries; occasional.

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) because of its threat-level

 

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Common Cudweed
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Asterales
Family:
Asteraceae
Records on NatureSpot:
23
First record:
17/06/2007 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
17/08/2023 (Bell, Melinda)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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