Syncarpha canescens

Syncarpha canescens, in Afrikaans known as the pienksewejaartjie (pink everlasting), is a sparsely branched shrublet reaching about 50 cm in height. The small, overlapping leaves are narrowly elliptic and grey-felted.

Several rows of papery, pointed involucral bracts make up the surrounding protection of each flowerhead and announce readiness of the central disc of tiny florets for visitors.

Flowering happens from before midsummer to early spring. The pink colouring is lost over time, the pollination then probably done or discontinued. Some other Syncarpha species start off with whitish bracts.

The three subspecies of S. canescens all occur in the Western Cape, one of them, subsp. canescens, is also found in the southwest of the Northern Cape and the southwest of the Eastern Cape. 

The habitat is varied rocky, slopes and flats in fynbos and renosterveld. The habitat populations of all three subspecies are considered of least concern early in the twenty first century (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Manning, 2007; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).