Scientific Name: Gnaphalium obtusifolium L.
Family: Asteraceae (Aster Family)
Common name: Life Everlasting
Description: Erect, fragrant, winter or summer annual erect herb, 1-3 feet tall; dead stems tend to remain throughout the winter; flowers August-October.
Range and Habitat: Common native plant throughout South Carolina along roadsides, in fallow fields, pastures, open sandy woodlands, and other disturbed sites.
In Porcher’s time… it was used to treat diseases of the chest and bowels, and is externally applied as a poultice to wounds and bruises.
See the historical entry on this plant as it appears in Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests