Flannelweed

Flannelweed is a perennial herbaceous plant or small shrub with upright branching stems. It usually grows 50-100 cm tall, but can reach 2 m in height. The plant is covered with soft white felt-like hair, while the stems are yellow-green and leaves are oblong-ovate (3.5 to 7.5 cm long by 2.5 to 6 cm wide). The flowers are dark yellow, sometimes with a darker orange center, with a hairy 5-lobed calyx and 5-lobed corolla. Fruit are 3-8 mm wide and separate into 8-10 wedge-like segments when mature. It reproduces by seed and is easily spread when the barbed awns on the seeds become attached to animals, clothing and other materials. It is also spread by water, animal excretion and in contaminated agricultural produce. It is a weed of pastures, grasslands, open woodlands, crops, roadsides, disturbed sites, waste areas and gardens. Resistance to some herbicides is reported, particularly as the plant matures (Plantnet).