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 stoloniferum (Helichrysum retortum minus, Xeranthemum stoloniferum) – Ankerbossie

Helichrysum stoloniferum is a high-mountain Cape classic for rock-garden lovers: prostrate, silvery, and surprisingly showy when in bloom, with large solitary heads that look like little paper lanterns nestled among hooked leaves. It also carries the Afrikaans common name Ankerbossie, and it’s a rewarding species for growers who like tough plants with refined detail.

It forms a diffuse, low subshrub with closely leafy stems and characteristic hooked leaf tips, all wrapped in a silky, tissue-paper-like indumentum. The bracts are the real spectacle: inner bracts can be glossy white through pale to deep rose (often white tipped rose), while the outer bracts are golden-brown and may be tinged rose – an elegant, warm-and-cool contrast in a single head. Flowering is recorded from November to February.

Endemic to South Africa, it grows in rocky places, often rooted in crevices, across the mountains of the Western and Eastern Cape from the Kamiesberg to the Cederberg and other high ranges, generally above 1200 m. In cultivation it excels in gritty, free-draining soils with cool nights and bright days – ideal for alpine houses, troughs, and exposed rockeries where winter cold is matched by excellent drainage.