Helichrysum ecklonis, the large pink strawflower, is a perennial herb growing to 50 cm. It branches to form rosettes of oblong to elliptic leaves. The leaves are often densely woolly on both surfaces. When they are not hairy on their upper surfaces, the three to five leaf veins are clearly visible.

Erect flowering stems, covered in hairy leaves emerging from the leaf rosette centres, produce solitary flowerheads in spring and early summer. The narrow, pointed involucral bracts are glossy, pink or white, growing in several rows around and above yellow disc flowers.

The distribution of H. ecklonis is widespread in the east of South Africa and in Lesotho, often on grassy slopes from the coast to the Drakensberg. This plant was photographed in January in KwaZulu-Natal near the Lesotho border (iSpot; Manning, 2009).