Brunia fragarioides

Brunia fragarioides, commonly the strawberry-head brunia and previously known scientifically as Nebelia fragarioides, is a much-branched shrub reaching heights from 60 cm to 90 cm.

The small, linear leaves overlap densely and curve in on the young stems, persisting on the plant for some time when dry. Lower branches become woody and leafless. Leaf colour is yellow-green to bright green.

Flowerheads of young buds are conspicuous in picture, their florets yet to open. Only some of the upper stems are bearing the cream and reddish heads of new, pointed buds.

Some older, open flowerheads are still visible, positioned slightly lower down among the stems, but already outstripped by latest growth. The old flowerheads tend to persist for long, partly hidden among the branches. This is where the plant’s top was a year ago.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape, the plants found from Ceres and Worcester to Paarl, the Hottentots-Holland Mountains and Caledon. This plant was seen on the top of the Kogelberg.

The habitat is montane, sandstone slopes where the plants grow among fynbos. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR; http://redlist.sanbi.org).