Stoebe cinerea

Stoebe cinerea, commonly known in Afrikaans as vaalanosterbossie (little grey rhino bush) and vaal hartebeeskaroo (grey hartebeest Karoo), is a much-branched shrub reaching 1,5 m in height.

It has grey, woolly, needle-like leaves that are twisted and bulbous at the base.The specific name, cinerea, is derived from the Latin word ciner meaning ashes, referring to the leaf colour and general appearance of the bush.

Globular flowerheads of tiny disc florets grow stalkless from leaf axils in spikes near stem-tips. The florets are purplish, their bracts golden brown. Flowering happens in late autumn.

The distribution is mainly in the southwest of the Western Cape, but isolated occurrences in the Eastern Cape, northern Free State and Mpumalanga are recorded. The habitat is often shale slopes. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; www.redlist.sanbi.org).