5 Eriocephalus ambiguus Seeds - Seeds For Indigenous South African Shrubs To Buy From South Africa

Eriocephalus ambiguus Seeds

South African Indigenous Shrub

Eriocephalus is a genus of African flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The various species occur mainly in South Africa and Namibia. Possibly because of its fancied resemblance to rosemary and its pleasant herbal odour, various species have been used on a small scale in cooking. Free range livestock browse the plants to various degrees, and along with various other Karooid bushes, this lends the meat a distinctive flavour and a character that some people relish in Karoo lamb for example. Various species also have been used widely in folk medicine. The leaf of Eriocephalus africanus when lightly rubbed has a pleasant odour. It has a herbaceous and balsamic odour. This species, Eriocephalus ericoides, and also Eriocephalus racemosus, have been used at the Cape for their diaphoretic and diuretic effects. Together with Metalasia muricata, Eriocephalus punctulatus has been used by the Southern Sotho to fumigate the hut of a person suffering from a cold or diarrhoea, and to fumigate a hut during illness or after a death. The Nama use a decoction of Eriocephalus umbellulatus as a colic remedy, and the early Cape settlers apparently used it similarly. Extraction yields a light yellow volatile oil with a sharp, though pleasant, aromatic odour and a burning taste. Until modern times the plant has been variously used as a household medicine in the Western Province, as a tincture for heart troubles and oedema, and as a foot-bath for assorted conditions. Some species and varieties are gaining in popularity as garden plants, partly because of their herbal and culinary value. They also are valued in bird-friendly gardens, because some species of birds actively collect the woolliness of the empty seed follicles for their nests. Eriocephalus ambiguus is a South African indigenous species from the Eastern Cape, Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape Provinces. It forms an erect much branched spiny shrub to 0.6m tall. It has small densely hairy silver grey aromatic leaves and woolly seeds.