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Elegia capensis
Also called Horsetail Capereed, Horsetail Restio
Elegia capensis, the horsetail restio, is a grass-like perennial from the fynbos of South Africa's Cape, looking much like a horsetail. It is a Garden Merit award plant that grows best in full sun with good drainage.
Elegia capensis, called the horsetail restio, or bergbamboes is a species of grass‑like flowering plant in the genus Elegia, native to the Fynbos region of the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. This flowering plant bears a strong resemblance to a scouring rush or horsetail (Equisetum spp.) with whorls of around 25 side shoots spaced 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) apart. The plant is usually 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) high but can reach 3 m (9.8 ft) on occasion. The flowers are brown and inconspicuous.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Elegia capensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
