There’s a reason Helichrysum has earned names like “everlasting,” “strawflower,” and “golden immortelle.” Across Africa, Eurasia, Madagascar, and even parts of Australia, this remarkable genus has adapted into an astonishing range of forms – from compact alpine cushions on windswept peaks to sprawling coastal pioneers on dunes, and tall, aromatic shrubs rising through savanna grassland. Many species seem almost sculpted for harshness: felted leaves that reflect heat, resinous scent glands that reduce water loss, and papery bracts that hold their colour long after flowering.

In southern Africa especially, Helichrysum becomes a signature of wild landscapes. Some species carpet high Drakensberg slopes like silver mats; others form tidy, upright tufts in montane grassland; and some are so specialised that they cling to cliff faces or root into shallow pockets of stony soil. The flowers, often arranged in tight button-clusters or open daisy-like heads, glow in tones of yellow, cream, white, pink, copper, red, and rose – and in many species the “petals” are actually brilliantly coloured bracts that preserve their beauty even when dried.

Beyond their ornamental appeal, Helichrysum carries deep cultural importance. Many species are traditionally used for fragrance, medicinal preparations, ceremonial burning, and as protective plants. For modern growers, they offer the irresistible combination of wild provenance, drought resilience, and striking textures – a true collector’s genus, equally suited to naturalistic gardens, rockeries, alpine troughs and habitat restoration planting.

Helichrysum leontonyx – Desert Cudweed

If you love the “everlastings” for their papery sparkle and toughness, Helichrysum leontonyx is a gem for collectors – an adaptable desert annual that can turn a bare patch of sand or gravel into a low, shimmering carpet. While not one of the best-known “impepho” species, it belongs to a genus celebrated in southern Africa for fragrant, resinous foliage and long-standing cultural and medicinal associations – perfect if you’re building a serious Helichrysum collection.

This is a grey-woolly, prostrate annual with many slender branches and leaves that crowd beneath the flower clusters like a soft collar. The small heads sit tightly grouped, with bracts that can show dull yellow through orange to red tones, and yellow florets sometimes tipped with red – classic “strawflower” texture on a miniature, wild scale. Flowering runs from mid-winter into spring (July to October, mainly September).

Indigenous to South Africa, in nature it’s a sand-lover that readily colonises roadsides and old fields, ranging from the far south of Namibia near the Orange River through Namaqualand and down to the Roggeveld, Ceres and into parts of the Little Karoo. Treat it like a true arid-garden annual: full sun, very free-draining mineral soil, and modest watering – especially rewarding in Mediterranean climates worldwide where winter/spring growth can be timed with rainfall patterns.