Rabbit Tobacco
Gnaphalium obtusifolium
Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium
(Click on image to enlarge.)
(Click on image to enlarge.)
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Rabbit Tobacco is a member of the Aster family. It is a common herb of old fields,
pastures, and roadsides. This is a plant of many names, both common and scientific.
In common discourse it has been been known as Old Field Balsam, Indian Posy, Cudweed, Sweet Everlasting, and
Common Everlasting. Scientifically it has been Gnaphalium polycephalum,
and now, after around a century in which most books refered to it as Gnaphalium obtusifolium,
there is an effort to rename it Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium.
In the nineteenth century and earlier this plant was thought to have medicinal uses, and still today there are many references to such on the internet. The dry leaves along the stem were occasionally smoked in pipes as a tobacco substitute. I would say that by September those dry leaves are the best identifier for Rabbit Tobacco. They are quite distinctive in appearance, odor, and taste. Compare to the related Everlasting (Gnaphalium purpureum), a very common weed of gardens and lawns. The first four photos were taken in early October. The last two were taken in late August. |