Helichrysum petiolare stem-tip leaves

The leaves of Helichrysum petiolare are whitish to grey-green, covered by dense woolly hairs. The young, stem-tip ones in picture appear thick from their woolly coats. Rounded to ovate, square-based, and obtusely pointed at the tips, the blades are slightly concave on top. Their outstanding feature is at the base, the leaf petiole that gave the plant its specific name. 

These soft leaves in sufficient numbers on a big, much-branched bush or bushes have served many a traveller through open country as a soft mattress in the south of the country. Several Helichrysum species have served thus widely, earning the Afrikaans name of kooigoed (bedding). 

Also check the Album on Helichrysum for more on the plant (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2009; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).