Hermas villosa has creamy green flower and it is always a pleasure to see the unusual globose flower clusters in the fynbos.

The plant has leathery leaves, shiny and glabrous (hairless) above. “Villosa” means hairy and in this case refers to the hairy underside of the leaves.

The leaves can be be up to 15 cm long and 6 cm wide. The margins are toothed.

Conservation Status Least Concern.

Distribution and habitat

Hermas villosa can be found from Cape Point to Hermanus on the rocky sandstone slopes. In Rooiels they have been observed on the slopes of the surrounding mountains. There are also some plants growing on properties on the slopes of Klein-Hangklip.

Ecology

Hermas villosa is a resprouter, meaning it happily grows again after a veld fire. The flowers are pollinated by insects and seeds are spread by the wind.

So why is it called “tinderleaf” or tontelblaar?

The hairs used to be scraped from the underside of the leaves, dried and then used as tinder in tinder boxes. That was before the time of matches, lighters and vapes.

The hairs were also apparently used to dress wounds.

I have tried to scrape the hairs from the underside of the leaves, but have not been successful.

References

Bean, A. & Johns, A. 2005. Stellenbosch to Hermanus. South African Wild Flower Guide 5. Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town.

Manning, J. 2007. Field guide to fynbos. Struik, Cape Town.

SANBI website