Strawflower, wax flower, and everlasting flower all refer to the same flower

Scientific name: Helichrysum bracteatum

Type: perennial herbaceous flower, often grown as a 1-2 year plant.

Family and genus: Asteraceae, Helichrysum genus

Aliases: wax flower, everlasting flower

Introduction:

The strawflower is an annual herbaceous perennial flower; because its flowers do not wither after drying and look as if made of wax, it is an excellent material for making dried flowers, a unique natural "handicraft" of the natural world.

Species in the same genus include Helichrysum arenarium, Helichrysum umbellatum, and others. Perennial herbaceous plants grown as annuals, weakly cold-tolerant, and will die when frost falls. The planting site should be a plot with good sunlight, good water retention, good drainage, and good fertilizer retention. Flower diameter 5-6CM, stems hard, rich in color, including red, pink, yellow, white, and intermediate colors, etc.

Origin:

Native to Australia, now cultivated in many countries around the world.

Morphological characteristics:

Plant height 50--90 cm, stems much branched, the whole plant covered with fine hairs. Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, entire, without petioles. Capitulum solitary at the branch tips. Involucral bracts in multiple layers, membranous, imbricate; the outer bracts are short, while the bracts of the inner layers are elongated and closely resemble ligulate flowers, in white, yellow, orange, pink, red, and dark colors, etc., generally mistaken by people for petals. Small yellow tubular flowers are clustered in the center of the flower disk. Achenes grayish brown, smooth.

Flowering period July--September.

Growth habits:

The strawflower likes warm and sunny environments. It is not cold-tolerant and dislikes extreme heat, and grows well in moist, well-drained, fertile, and loose soil.

Optimum germination temperature: 15-20°C

Optimum growth temperature: 12-25°C

Soil: It has strong adaptability to soil and can be planted in ordinary soil, but requires good drainage.

Water: Water should not be excessive, otherwise the plant becomes tall and blooms relatively late; it dislikes waterlogging.

Sunlight: It likes sunlight; insufficient sunlight affects flowering.

Fertilizer: Apply fertilizer once every half month during the growing period, and apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer twice more during the flowering period.

Temperature: It likes warmth and also tolerates cold. The optimum sowing temperature is 20-22 degrees, and the optimum growth temperature is 20-30 degrees.

Applications:

It can be used to arrange flower beds and flower borders, and can also be grown in pots for ornament; in addition, it can be used as dried flowers, cut flowers, and in flower arrangements.

There are about 350 species in the same genus, and those commonly cultivated at present include:

1 Helichrysum lanatum, with spreading stems, obovate-rounded leaves, and solitary silver-white capitula, native to New Zealand;

2 Helichrysum umbellatum, somewhat shrubby at the base, with ovate leaves, capitula in corymb-like umbels, involucral bracts oblong with blunt tips, milky white. Native to South Africa;

3 Helichrysum tianschanicum, a herbaceous perennial, the whole plant densely covered with tomentum, leaves narrowly lanceolate, capitula in corymbs, yellow or orange-red, native to China**.

This kind of strawflower resembles a golden sun, dazzling and very moving, and is widely planted in flower nurseries in Lingnan.