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 oligopappum

If you love the clean, silver-and-gold look of highland everlastings, Helichrysum oligopappum is a standout: a tough perennial herb crowned with silvery rosettes and sending up multiple stems lined with narrow, linear leaves that shimmer with a silky felt. Its many tiny heads pack together into flattened clusters, each head edged by papery bracts that shift from straw tones to bright canary-yellow tips.

This is a true South African endemic grassland specialist, known from a handful of localities in KwaZulu-Natal where it grows in poor, stony grassland soils. For collectors and growers, that restricted range adds real provenance value – an authentic piece of KZN grassland flora that rewards “lean soil, bright light” cultivation approaches.

In gardens and pots, it offers the classic everlasting appeal: the dry, membranous bracts typical of “immortelles” keep their form beautifully when dried, making it useful for long-lasting arrangements as well as rock-garden texture. Flowering is recorded from late summer into autumn (February to April), with yellow florets framed by those bright bracts.