Floral Friday : Helichrysum cymosum

Family : Asteraceae (Daisy family)

Common names : gold carpet (Eng.); goue tapyt (Afr.); impepho (Xulu)

Helichrysum cymosum subsp. cymosum is a very attractive and easy-to-grow groundcover with small silvery grey leaves, covered with masses of bright yellow flowers in summer.

Description
Helichrysum cymosum subsp. cymosum is a fast growing, well branched, spreading groundcover that can grow up to 1 m tall, but in the garden it is usually about 500 mm tall with equal spread. It has thin greyish-white woolly branches densely covered with leaves. The upper surface of the leaf is covered in thin silvery grey, paper-like hairs (indumentum) that will strip like a skin when rubbed.

It flowers during summer, between September and April, but mainly in late summer and autumn, with bright canary-yellow flowers in flat-topped flower heads that look like masses of small discs. Each flowerhead is a cluster of 6–20 flowers. The flowers generally have smooth tips.

Helichrysum cymosum subsp. cymosum is very common and therefore it is not threatened in the wild.

Distribution and habitat
It grows in big straggling clumps, often in moist areas such as the hollows between dunes, amongst shrubs in Cape scrub and on forest margins. It ranges from the Western Cape, including the Cape Peninsula, eastwards along the coastal mountain ranges of the Eastern Cape and as far as Lake St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal.

Derivation of name and historical aspects
About 240 species of Helichrysum are indigenous in southern Africa. The genus name Helichrysum, derived from the Greek words helios, which means sun, and chrysos, gold, refers to the golden flowerheads of many species in this genus. The word cymosum (Latin) means ‘with cymes’, which are flower clusters in which the flowers open from the centre outward, referring to the flat-topped clusters of flowerheads.

Uses and cultural aspects
Like in many other Helichrysum species, the leaves are aromatic. Traditionally, people of the Eastern Cape use dried leaves as a pain reliever, by inhaling the smoke of burning leaves. Fresh leaves are traditionally boiled in water and drunk as a tea for coughs and colds. Leaves are also traditionally used in wound dressings and to prevent infections.

This is an easy plant to grow and an excellent hardy ground cover for dry areas. It can also be used as an edging plant, in mixed borders, containers, window boxes, as well as herb gardens and scented gardens. It is a plant that tolerates salt and grows well in sandy soils, which makes it a good plant for coastal gardens. It grows well in full sun and semishaded areas.

Helichrysum cymosum subsp. cymosum is easy to propagate from cuttings rooted in a sand-based growing medium with the addition of compost and fertilizer for nutrients. Seeds are sown in autumn or spring.