Hermannia is a very diverse and attractive group of plants with highly ornamental flowers, fitting into a variety of habitats and growth forms, hermannias are the little porcelain bells of the South African veld. Hermannia is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It comprises at least 65 species with many more species as yet unresolved. The genus commemorates Prof. Paul Hermann, a German professor of botany at Leyden and one of the first collectors to visit the Cape. These plants have high horticultural potential yet are sadly undervalued as a garden plant. Hermannia is a genus of small perennial shrubs, ranging from upright to sprawling prostrate shrublets. Hermannias possess strong, thick, rootstocks and underground stems, which enable them to withstand fires in the Highveld and overcome times of severe drought in arid areas.

Hermannia ternifolia, commonly known as Sweet Doll’s-rose in English and Tandebossie in Afrikaans, is a South African endemic sprawling grey-green, hairy shrublet up to 20cm. The leaves are triangular to wedge-shaped, often toothed, with stipules at the base of each leaf-stalk. The flowers are single or in terminal clusters, up to 13mm long, with a pin-hole throat and puffed up calyx. It may be orange-yellow, red or marmalade in colour with a strong, sweet scent and are borne in spring. Usually found growing on coastal sands and coastal limestone.