Syncarpha canescens subsp. canescens

Syncarpha canescens subsp. canescens, in Afrikaans the pienksewejaartjie (pink everlasting or literally pink little seven-year-old), is a sparsely branched, grey felted shrublet reaching 50 cm in height.

The small, elliptic leaves ascend densely, overlapping on the stems. The specific name, canescens, is derived from the Latin word canus meaning grey, white or hoary and the Latin suffix -escens meaning becoming or almost resembling, referring to the hairy leaves and stems.

The discoid, top-shaped flowerheads grow at stem-tips, mostly solitary, the receptacle fringed and without scales. Several rows of glossy pink to red involucral bracts, dry and papery, encircle the dark disc of tiny florets. The flowerheads become from 2,5 cm to 3,5 cm in diameter. Flowering happens from midsummer to early spring.

The subspecies is distributed mainly in the Western Cape, slightly spilling over to the north into the Northern Cape and to the east into the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is dry and rocky sandstone and limestone slopes among fynbos. The subspecies is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Marais, (Ed.), 2017; Andrew, 2017; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).