Staehelina
Staehelina dubia
Family · Asteraceae · Harmless
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The white limestone subshrub bearing narrow cylindrical heads of pink flowers, which after drying carry a silky white plume exactly like a paintbrush.
Where it grows
Scrubland · Uplands · Fields and pasture
Also known aspaintbrush plant
In flower
How to tell it
A subshrub thirty to sixty centimetres, with narrow leaves, green above and white-felted beneath, margins rolled under. Narrow cylindrical heads with few lilac-pink florets peeping out. After flowering, the seed plume is long, white and shiny.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
No use. It is a good indicator of limestone and well-preserved dry scrub, and the dry plume stays recognisable on the plant for months outside the flowering season.