Syncarpha vestita
The Cape Snow, or White Everlasting, when flowering is one of the most conspicuous plants from South Africa’s fynbos biome, growing in well-drained sandy or rocky soils from the Cape Peninsula to the area of George in the Garden Route. The plants have a very dense growth form up to 1m tall and grow rapidly from seeds after a fire, forming thick stands of plants that flower profusely from October to January and make for beautiful scenery. The tiny purplish flowers, located on a disk surrounded by the eye-catchingly bright white bracts, are pollinated by several kinds of beetles and the inflorescences last for a very long time, even after being cut. Within about 7 years the plants start dying; by then the surrounding vegetation has grown taller than it already and they’re no longer as obviously seen. The seeds then remain dormant in the ground until a fire restarts the process. Cape Snow flowers are used commercially, being popular in flower arrangements (and often dyed different colours).
DeWetsWild 