Blumea malcolmii - Woolly Blumea

Woolly Blumea is a stout herb, 1-2 ft tall, strongly aromatic, with tap roots. Stems are much branched from base, erect or rising up, densely woolly with silky white hairs. Leaves are obovate to inverted-lanceshaped, 1-12 cm x 0.7-5 cm, closely irregularly spiny-sawtoothed, blunt, densely white woolly on both surfaces, stalkless. Flower-heads are borne in branch-end fascicles, clustered at the ends of branches, 7-11 mm across. Flower-cluster-stalks are up to 2 cm long, densely woolly; involucral bracts linear, 2-8 mm long, pointed, reflexed at maturity, densely woolly on dorsal surface; receptacle convex, alveolate, hairless; central florets bisexual, with tubular flower, 6.5-7 mm long, 5- lobed, yellow, velvet-hairy; marginal florets female, thread-like, 5.5-6 mm long, 3-lobed, velvet-hairy. Achenes are brown, ribbed, silky, shinning, velvet-hairy, 1.5-1.8 mm x 0.5-0.6 mm. Pappus white, 6-6.7 mm long, berbellate. Woolly Blumea is endemic to Western Ghats. Flowering: November-February.