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Eriocephalus africanus, known as wild rosemary or kapokbossie, is a bushy, fragrant shrublet from South Africa with silvery foliage and small white flower heads. It is grown in dry, sunny, well-drained gardens rather than as a houseplant.
Eriocephalus africanus is a bushy shrublet indigenous to South Africa. It has a wide distribution in the Western and Eastern Cape, and in Namaqualand. The plant has several common names in various languages. It is known as the Kapokbossie or Wild Rosemary (Afrikaans "wilde roosmaryn") referring to its fancied resemblance to rosemary. The superficial resemblance is in the foliage, which, though softer and not glossy, grows in a habit similar to that of the common Mediterranean rosemary, although the two species are not related.
Eriocephalus africanus is fragrant, with lightly felted foliage that gives the plant a matt silvery appearance. The inflorescences are small brown and pale yellow heads borne in corymbs; each head bears a few bisexual ray florets with abortive ovaries and snowy white petals that practically cover a bush in flower.
Eriocephalus klinghardtensis · Eriocephalus racemosus · Cottonbushes
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eriocephalus africanus 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.
