Syncarpha gnaphaloides

Syncarpha gnaphaloides, in Afrikaans commonly known as vlaktetee (plains tea), is an erect white-felted shrublet growing to 30 cm. The plant is found on sandstone slopes of the fynbos in the south of the Western Cape from Tulbagh to the Cape Peninsula and eastwards to the Outeniqua Mountains. The species is not considered to be threatened early in the twenty first century.

The specific name, gnaphaloides, reflects another genus which the plant resembles, Gnaphalium, also belonging to the Asteraceae family and of which about five indigenous and some exotic species occur in the fynbos region. Earlier in the recorded history of this plant it used to be called Helipterum gnaphaloides and Staehelina gnaphaloides respectively, during different stages of it being noted botanically (Bean and Johns, 2005; Manning, 2007; Andrew, 2012; www.redlist.sanbi.org).