Edmondia pinifolia

Edmondia pinifolia is a sparsely branched shrublet growing slender, white-woolly stems up to 60 cm, although mostly well shorter than that.

The lower leaves are alternate, ascending and near needle-like with rolled under margins. These leaves are sufficiently sparsely spaced to expose parts of the white woolliness of the stems in the photo. The upper leaves are shorter and broader, grading into the bracts of the flowerhead.

The species distribution is restricted to a southwesterly part of the Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula northwards to the Cederberg and eastwards to the Kogelberg. The plant in picture has no trouble having a life in a rock crevice in Bainskloof.

The habitat is rocky fynbos slopes, often at upper elevations on damp sandstone cliffs and in crevices. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; http://redlist.sanbi.org).