Helichrysum teretifolium early days

Helichrysum teretifolium can also be a minimal shrublet starting off with slender flowering stems reaching for the sky tentatively from a scant base. Check it in a few years, and its lifestyle may convey the confidence of the prosperous. The shallow-domed inflorescences at the stem-tips vary in the number of flowerheads they could manage. The branches are thinly felted.

This plant has dense leaves low down, very few scattered higher up, warily adhering to the stems. Some plants are densely leaved right up to the heads, demonstrating the dominance of safety in numbers. The leaves are green on top, their greenness varying notably on plants where heat and moisture uniquely define the art of the possible. The white felt on the lower leaf surfaces shows clearly.

The photo is from veld near Hermanus (Manning, 2007; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist).