Plecostachys serpyllifolia

Plecostachys serpyllifolia, the cobwebbush or in Afrikaans vaaltee (grey tea), is a much branched or tangled, sprawling shrublet of the Asteraceae family.

The flowers that appear from mid-autumn to early winter have white bracts and pink discs. They grow on branch tips in rounded clusters of small flowerheads. The leaves are alternate on short petioles. Leaves are green on top, whitish below. Their shape is oval with rounded tips. The margins curve inwards and the leaf itself curves downwards towards its tip. All parts of the plant are whitish velvety with short fine hairs.

It grows on coastal flats and damp slopes from the Cape Peninsula to the Eastern Province and into the southern KwaZulu-Natal coast.

There are only two Plecostachys species in the genus that is closely related to Helichrysum (www.smgrowers.com; www.plantzafrica.com; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).