Helichrysum umbraculigerum

Helichrysum umbraculigerum, commonly called woolly umbrellas or kerriekruie (curry herb) in Afrikaans, is a fast growing perennial reaching about 1 m in height. The spread is as wide or wider, branches touching the ground tending to root.

The leaves are green on the upper surfaces, white and woolly below. The leaf-shape is ovate with pointy tips. They may be sessile or have short petioles. There are, however, much leaf-shape variation.

The inflorescences are wide, flat and mustard yellow, webbed together from woolliness. The flowerhead shape is said to resemble an umbrella, hence the scientific, as well as the English common name. Each flower consists of a large number of disc florets. The heads are irregular in shape, becoming darker, golden as they age. 

The species distribution is in the east of South Africa, from the Eastern Cape, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal to Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as some neighbouring countries including Zimbabwe.

The habitat is open grassland, stream banks, forest edges and Karoo scrub. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

This plant, like several other helichrysums, is used medicinally by indigenous populations. The plant is a good garden subject and the long-lasting (everlasting?) flowers are used as cut-flowers. The plant is grown from stem and tip cuttings. The plants are much browsed in the veld (Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; JSTOR; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).