Helichrysum patulum

Helichrysum patulum is yet another everlasting given the Afrikaans common name of kooigoed (bedding material). The plant is a grey and woolly, straggling shrub that reaches about 70 cm in height, much-branched, sometimes rounded and often wider than tall.

The soft, woolly foliage and stems that also repel insects clearly deserve the kooigoed name. Once a big shrub is found before dark, it need not take long to prepare a comfortable place to sleep in the veld. Do check underneath who else may have chosen to sleep there!

The species distribution is from the Cape Peninsula along the south coast to Mossel Bay.

The habitat is coastal fynbos and scrub on sandy and limestone flats and south-facing slopes. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Bean and Johns, 2005; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).