''Caputia tomentosa'', known as the woolly senecio and the matted caputia, is a perennial, succulent dwarf shrub of the ''

Caputia ''Caputia'' is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to South Africa. It may be of hybrid origin. Species in this genus were formerly considered part of the genus ''Senecio ''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plan ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

that grows in the

Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sou ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, usually between the 900 and 1200 meters elevation. It has been introduced to Myanmar. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

as an ornamental.

History

Its first description was written by

Adrian Hardy Haworth Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the m ...

, in ''Miscellanea naturalia'', 1803, p. 189, with the name of ''Cacalia tomentosa''. Haworth stated that he had received the plant, introduced eight years before, from the Stockwell Botanical Garden of his friend Benjamin Robertson.

Description

Growing up to 10–25 cm high, its leaves are densely

felted A felted material is a hairy or filamentous (hairy-like) fibre that is densely packed or tangled, forming felt or felt-like structures. Anatomy and zoology The dermis is described in Gray's Anatomy as "felted connective tissue, with a va ...

, so much so that the felt can be stripped off, dried, and used as tinder. The plant is accordingly called "tontelbos" in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...

. The word means "tinder bush". A plucked stem or leaf can be stuck into warm, not-too-dry earth, where it will root without special attention. Like most

Richtersveld The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to cragg ...

plants it does not do well in wet soil.Senecio haworthii - Succulent Encyclopedia
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Gallery

Image:Senecio_haworthii-PICT2615.jpg, In its habitat,

, South Africa Image:Senecio haworthii Felted leaves 2012 07 19 7536.JPG, Leaves, showing dense, tight, felted surface

Culture

Like in nature, ''Caputia tomentosa'' needs well-drained sandy loams, rare water and full sun.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q51432136 Senecioneae Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 1812 Garden plants