Belongs within: Gnaphalieae.
Gnaphalium is a genus of woolly herbs bearing clustered, heterogamous-discoid heads (Black & Robertson 1965).
Characters (from Black & Robertson 1965): Tomentose or woolly herbs with alternate leaves; flowerheads small, usually clustered. Involucre ovoid, bracts in several rows, upper half scarious; receptacle naked; flowers all tubular, not exceeding involucre, outer ones female, filiform, numerous; disk-flowers broader, few, bisexual, fertile, five-toothed; style-branches truncate; achenes minute (about 0.5 mm long), oblong, papillose or rarely glabrous; pappus of very fine simple bristles in single row, usually about eight to twelve, free and falling off separately.
Gnaphalium Linnaeus 1753A61
`--G. sect. EuchitonB93
|--‘Euchiton’ gymnocephalusGK00
|--G. involucratum Forster 1786B93, A61 (see below for synonymy)
|--G. mackayi (Buchan.) Cockayne 1928B93, A61 (see below for synonymy)
|--G. nitidulum Hooker 1864B93, A61
|--‘Euchiton’ sphaericusGK00
|--G. traversii Hooker 1864B93, A61
`--G. umbricolaB93
Gnaphalium incertae sedis:
G. bicolorH93
G. californicumH93
G. canescensH93
|--G. c. ssp. canescensH93
|--G. c. ssp. beneolensH93
|--G. c. ssp. microcephalumH93
`--G. c. ssp. thermaleH93
G. chiliastrumBW98
G. collinum Labill. 1806 (see below for synonymy)A61
G. domingenseJ87
G. eggersiiJ87
G. hookeri Allan 1961A61
G. indicum [incl. G. multicaule]BR65
G. indutumBR65
G. japonicum Thunb. 1784A61
G. keriense Cunn. 1839 [incl. Helichrysum micranthum Cunn. ex DC. 1838, G. novae-zelandiae Sch. Bip. 1845]A61
G. leucocephalumH93
G. multicepsMH98
G. paludosum Petrie 1890 [incl. G. minutula Colenso 1890]A61
G. palustreH93
G. pennsylvanicumB00
G. plantagineumJ23
G. polycaulonVB02
G. pratenseD03
G. pulvinatumVB02
G. purpureum [incl. G. peregrinum]H93
G. ramosissimumH93
G. selleanumJ87
G. serpyllifoliumD03
G. sphaericumB00
G. stramineum [incl. G. chilense]H93
G. subrigidum Colenso 1885 [incl. G. keriense var. linifolia Hooker 1853]A61
G. trinerve Forster 1786 [incl. G. adhaerens Colenso 1885, G. lyallii Hooker 1853]A61
G. uliginosumC55a
G. undulatumC55b
Gnaphalium collinum Labill. 1806 [incl. G. collinum var. monocephalum Hooker 1860, G. collinum var. obscurum Kirk 1899, G. simplex Rich. 1832]A61
Gnaphalium involucratum Forster 1786B93, A61 [incl. G. cunninghamii DC. 1838A61, G. lanatum Forster 1786A61, G. virgatum Banks & Sol. ex Hooker 1853A61]
Gnaphalium mackayi (Buchan.) Cockayne 1928B93, A61 [=Raoulia m’kayi Buchan. 1882A61, G. traversii var. mackayi (Buchan.) Kirk 1899A61]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A61] Allan, H. H. 1961. Flora of New Zealand vol. 1. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. R. E. Owen, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).
[BR65] Black, J. M., & E. L. Robertson. 1965. Flora of South Australia. Part IV. Oleaceae–Compositae. W. L. Hawes, Government Printer: Adelaide.
[B00] Braby, M. F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution vol. 2. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).
[B93] Breitwieser, I. 1993. Comparative leaf anatomy of New Zealand and Tasmanian Inuleae (Compositae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 111: 183–209.
[BW98] Breitwieser, I., & J. M. Ward. 1998. Leaf anatomy of Raoulia Hook. f. (Compositae, Gnaphalieae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 126: 217–235.
[C55a] Candolle, A. de. 1855a. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 1. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.
[C55b] Candolle, A. de. 1855b. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.
[D03] Dusén, P. 1903. The vegetation of western Patagonia. In: Scott, W. B. (ed.) Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896–1899 vol. 8. Botany pp. 1–34. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).
[GK00] Gibson, N., & G. J. Keighery. 2000. Flora and vegetation of the Byenup-Muir reserve system, south-west Western Australia. CALMScience 3 (3): 323–402.
[J23] James, E. 1823. Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819 and ’20, by order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, sec’y of war: under the command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and other gentlemen of the exploring party vol. 1. H. C. Carey & I. Lea: Philadelphia.
[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.
[MH98] Morikawa, H., A. Higaki, M. Nohno, M. Takahashi, M. Kamada, M. Nakata, G. Toyohara, Y. Okamura, K. Matsui, S. Kitani, K. Fujita, K. Irifune & N. Goshima. 1998. More than a 600-fold variation in nitrogen dioxide assimilation among 217 plant taxa. Plant, Cell and Environment 21: 180–190.
[VB02] Vijay, S. K., & T. N. Bhardwaja. 2002. Vegetation and phenodynamics of wetlands of central Rajasthan. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 573–581.