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Helichrysum petiolare
Also called Silver Bush Everlasting Flower, Silver Bush Everlastingflower, Trailing Dusty Miller, Licorice Everlasting, Silver Bush Everlasting, Silver Everlasting, Liquorice Plant
A trailing, evergreen subshrub with silvery grey-green furry leaves that smell faintly of licorice, grown mainly for its foliage and as groundcover. It needs full sun and very well drained soil, as it is prone to root rot.
Helichrysum petiolare, the licorice-plant or liquorice plant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a subshrub native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa — where it is known as impepho — and to Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is naturalized in parts of Portugal and the United States. Growing to about 45 cm (18 in) high and 150 cm (59 in) broad, it is a trailing evergreen subshrub with furry grey-green leaves and small white flowers. Other common names include silver-bush everlastingflower, trailing dusty miller and kooigoed. The foliage has a faint licorice aroma, but Helichrysum petiolare is not closely related to true liquorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra, from which liquorice candy is made.
It is cultivated for its foliage and as groundcover. This plant prefers sun to partial shade with well drained soil, being susceptible to root rot. It is hardy to zones 9–11, in mild or coastal areas where temperatures do not fall below freezing for extended periods. It requires a sheltered position in full sun.
Numerous cultivars have been developed, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
Its Afrikaans common name of kooigoed translates as "bedding stuff" and it is still used to provide a soft and aromatic mattress.
Strawflower · Curry Plant · Helichrysum milfordiae · Eastern Strawflower · Red Everlasting · Cape Gold · Yellow amaranth · Strawflower · Jersey cudweed
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Helichrysum petiolare 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.
