Metalasia trivialis

Metalasia trivialis is a single-stemmed, much-branched shrub reaching 3 m in height. The erect branches are white-woolly when young.

The twisted leaves are glossy green above and felted white below. Axillary tufts of young leaves are grown. The leaves are about 1 cm long and 2 mm wide.

The inflorescences consist of stem-tip clusters of numerous small flowerheads. An inflorescence may be 3,5 cm in diameter, a head 3 mm. The tubular discoid florets are white, the involucres around their bases brown and woolly. Flowering happens in spring and summer.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from the Little Karoo to Makhanda and Hogsback in the Eastern Cape. The photo was taken in the Eastern Cape near the coast. The specific name, trivialis, is a Latin word meaning common or popular, referring to the plant’s widespread occurrence.

The habitat is rocky and grassy, south-facing fynbos slopes near forests and in Albany thicket, from the coast to elevations around 1500 m. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).