It is not called muishondblaar in Afrikaans (mongoose leaf) for nothing! As the specific epithet foetidum also indicates, Helichrysum foetidum does not have a pleasant smell. The attractive clusters of yellow to cream flowers of this plant that can be found on damp slopes at any time but winter, probably deserve the more flattering common name of yellow everlasting though.

There are eight or nine rows of involucral bracts around the flat-topped disc flowers. They are imbricate, i.e. they have regularly arranged, overlapping edges, as roof tiles or fish scales. The leaves are broad, oblong to lanceolate, clasping the stem. There are gland-tipped hairs on the plant, while the lower leaf surfaces are densely white-woolly. The habitat is the southern parts of both the Eastern and Western Cape. The plant is biennial, lasting for two growing seasons (Manning, 2007; www.plantzafrica.com).