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Botanical Name: Ozothamnus diosmifolius (Helichrysum diosmifolium)

Pronunciation: oz-o-THAM-nus di-os-mi-FOL-ee-us (hel-i-CRY-sum di-os-mi-FOL-ee-um)

Family Name: Compositae (aster)

Origin: Australia

Common Relatives: chrysanthemum, marigold, zinnia

Introduction: Like the grains of rice showered over a newlywed couple to wish them a long life of happiness, the white blooms of the rice flower is revered for its long life of beauty of two weeks or longer. Since the days of ancient Greece, the rice flower has been graced with names like everlasting and immortal because of its seemingly eternal life as a dried flower. A member of the aster family, rice flower is native to Australia and is closely related to the chrysanthemum, marigold and zinnia.

Interesting Facts:

• From the Greek "helios" (the sun) and "chryson" (golden)
• The Compositae or aster family is vast, with over 20,000 species, and is also one of the most developed families. It was named Compositae because the flowers are actually a "composite" of many individual flowers into one head. Hence, when children pull one "petal" off at a time, saying "she/he loves me, loves me not", they are actually removing a complete flower, not just a petal.
• Two common names for Helichrysum are Everlasting and Immortelle in reference to the flowers lasting almost forever when dried.

• Many tiny white flower heads in dense cluster at stem ends
• plant is a woody shrub, dicotyledon, leaves not parallel veined

Flower Color: white, pink

Fragrance: no

Decorative Life: two plus weeks

Special Care Tips: Remove bottom leaves if present, recut stems under water and place into a bleach solution (about 20 drops [1/4 teaspoon] per quart of water).

Ethylene Sensitivity: most likely no