Fleabane, Bilbao's

Information on Bilbao's Fleabane

Common Name: Bilbao's Fleabane
Scientific Name: Conyza floribunda
Irish Name: Lus garbh na ndreancaidí
Family Group: Asteraceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Bilbao's Fleabane is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


This is an annual plant which stands erect to about 100 cm high, the stems very much branched. It bears small flowerheads (4-10 mm), each comprised of creamy-white disc florets in loose panicles. They bloom in August and September. The alternate, lanceolate leaves are sparsely toothed and the entire plant is covered with coarse hairs, giving it the alternate name of Hispid Fleabane. This plant, which is also known as Conyza floribunda, is not a native and it belongs to the Daisy or Asteraceae family.  

I first recorded this plant close to the quayside in New Ross, Co Wexford in 2009 when I photographed it.  

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

This newcomer to our shores is one which could be bypassed quite easily but once you have noticed it, you will tend to find it growing very frequently – mostly on waste ground or in cracks in the pavements of our towns. It seeds itself by means of a very efficient pappus and I have seen hosts of similar plants along the Luas line at Sandyford. The wind-current produced by the trams probably helps to scatter the seeds. 

I am most grateful to Paul Green, BSBI Vice-county Recorder, Waterford and Wexford, for his confirmation of my identification.

Fleabane, Bilbao's
Fleabane, Bilbao's
Fleabane, Bilbao's