Description
This a sturdy, fast-growing, evergreen, well-branched shrub of 2-3 m or a small tree of 4-5 m. The leaves are simple, alternate and oval or egg-shaped and up to 25 mm wide, green-grey in colour and sparsely covered with silky white hairs on the upper and lower surfaces that give the leaves a silvery sheen. Young growth is velvety. The flowers are large, 25 mm or more across, very showy, mauve-pink to pink and most have a white spot in the centre. Flowers are borne in winter-spring-early summer. The flowers are followed by hard, inflated, furry brown pods. They are found on the bushes from about October until January. The pods split to release several small seeds. It is quick and easy to grow. It does best in well-drained, well-composted, acidic soil and in summer rainfall areas it must be watered well in autumn and winter. It does not thrive in alkaline soils. It is wind-tolerant and drought tolerant. It looks lovely when planted in a mixed border. Attracts birds and butterflies. This plant occurs in the south-western Cape and will not cope with the Highveld’s frosty winters. This plant occurs in the The name is derived from the Latin podiliriuis and the Greek Podaleirios, son of the god of healing..