Compilation
Helichrysum zairense

Hilliard and Wild believed that foetidum and microcephalum were different taxa; Mesfin united them, and made them into varieties, both of which he says occur in Ethiopia and East Africa. I believe they are a single taxon. I have not been able to find the differences enumerated by Mesfin; the white pubescence of the abaxial leaf surface seems randomly distributed, and is not correlated with number or size of heads, or leaf size, or locality, or habitat. The diameter of the capitula shows a continuous range from 8–18 mm, that of the receptacle from 3.5–8 mm, and the phyllaries range from 2.5–9 mm. Therefore, I have to conclude that our material forms the end of a cline, with slightly smaller receptacles and phyllaries than in most (but not all) plants from South Africa. This large variation does not seem exceptional for a pioneer species.There is a form with smaller florets (≤ 2(–2.5) mm long, as opposed to the usual ≥ 2.5 mm long) and golden yellow rather than pale yellow or cream pappus. It is more or less sympatric with the other form and probably does not deserve even varietal status. Moeser states for his var. molle 'has much darker yellow heads than the other forms'. This was probably the above taxon, but he gives no measurements, and the colour variation is not absolute: darker yellow heads have been found in H. foetidum s.s.(e.g. Purseglove 521, 1610 from Uganda). Since the type has been destroyed, it seems foolhardy to assign this varietal name, while doubt remains.