''Phaenocoma'' is a genus of

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

plants in the tribe Gnaphalieae within the family Asteraceae. The name is derived from the Greek roots (to shine) and (hair), which refer to dry and shiny

involucral In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, ...

bracts.

1 Phaenocoma prolifera - Everlasting - Cape RSA

Species

There is only one known species, ''Phaenocoma prolifera'' (Cape strawflower). The Strawflower is native to cool, well-drained, sandy, mineral soils - often on slopes. It occurs in full sun, in mountain and valley

Fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

shrublands, throughout the southern parts of the Western Cape, South Africa.

Description

It grows to over a meter in height, and tapers at the top, often forming a Christmas-tree shape. The leaves are tiny, rounded, and densely cover the stems. The purple and pink flowers mostly appear in Spring, on the tips of the upper branches, though they remain for most of the year. What look like petals are actually the bracts. They are rigid, papery and dry and do not wilt. When cut as ornamentals, the flowers also last for years, provided that they are kept dry. For this reason, it is one of several species which are given the nickname "Everlasting". (The other plants commonly given this name include species of ''

Syncarpha ''Syncarpha'' is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The flowers are known by the common name: everlastings. The genus is endemic to the fynbos of the Eastern and Western Cape in South Africa. ; Species Species acc ...

'', '' Helichrysum'' and '' Edmondia'') The flowers remain on the bushes and become gradually more pale through the summer.

Taxonomy

The genus, and its sole surviving species, is an archaic and outlying relict plant.Gibbs Russell, G. E., W. G. M. Welman, E. Retief, K. L. Immelman, G. Germishuizen, B. J. Pienaar, M. Van Wyk & A. Nicholas. 1987. List of species of southern African plants. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa 2(1–2): 1–152(pt. 1), 1–270(pt. 2).

References

Gnaphalieae Monotypic Asteraceae genera Endemic flora of South Africa {{Gnaphalieae-stub