Erica alopecurus erect tails of foxes or cats

This modest Erica alopecurus plant flowering in the montane grassland around the Sani Pass shows several of the softly hairy, green leaf cylinders that gave the plant the common name of foxtail heath. The Greek word for fox is alopex and for tail is oura.

The Afrikaans colloquial name is katstertheide (cat’s tail heath), indicating that the namegivers didn’t bother with Greek. 

Green doesn’t suit the tail of either animal, neither does the constant, rigid erectness of these branches. The hairiness fits just fine (Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; https://pza.sanbi.org).