Freylinia helmei

A very attractive, erect, branched, evergreen, woody shrub that grows to a height of 2.5 m. The beautiful subpendulous to pendulous white through cream to pale purple flowers add to the attractiveness of the plant.

Freylinia helmei is endemic to a small area in the Caledon region, some 13 km north of a small village called Botrivier. It occurs on various farms west of the road R43, east of the Bot River and north of the national road, the N2 highway. The bell bush grows in renosterveld on steep south and southeast-facing shale slopes, too steep to plough, at altitudes of 200-300 m. The plant receives rainfall in winter that ranges from 300-400 mm per year.

The genus Freylinia was named after Count L. de Freylino who owned a famous garden in Buttigliera near Marengo in Italy in the early 19 th century. The species name helmei is named in honour of Nick Helme, who together with Kristal Maze discovered the plant during field work for the Botanical Society Cape Lowlands Project.

Well adapted to fire. The bell bush has a lignotuber (woody, swollen, underground stem ) that is adapted to survive a fire. This root system allows the plant to resprout with new growth after fire. The other Freylinia species are also subject to occasional fires after which they resprout.

The beautiful tubular flowers are pollinated by sunbirds.