cottonweed

(noun) an American everlasting having foliage with soft wooly hairs and corymbose heads with pearly white bracts. Synonyms: pearly everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea.

(noun) any of various plants of the genus Froelichia found in sandy soils and on rocky slopes in warmer regions of America; grown for their spikes of woolly white flowers.