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Helichrysum melaleucum; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2025-06-18

Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl

Asteraceae · Madeira

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, Rchb.

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Helichrysum melaleucum, photograph (c) Vítor Jorge, some rights reserved (CC BY)Helichrysum melaleucum, photograph (c) Vítor Jorge, some rights reserved (CC BY)Helichrysum melaleucum, photograph (c) Vítor Jorge, some rights reserved (CC BY)Helichrysum melaleucum, photograph (c) Vítor Jorge, some rights reserved (CC BY)Helichrysum melaleucum, photograph (c) Vítor Jorge, some rights reserved (CC BY)Helichrysum melaleucum, photograph (c) Vítor Jorge, some rights reserved (CC BY) 74 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Coldest month, mean nightly low
12.5°C
Feb at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (sea cell) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
23°C
Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,025mm
10 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
16–46DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet winters: the rain comes October to March, read as a winter growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

About the genus · Helichrysum

The genus Helichrysum consists of an estimated 600 species of flowering plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is Helichrysum orientale. They often go by the names everlasting, immortelle, and strawflower. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Helichrysum", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,553 mm of 2,026 mm) falls in October to March, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 15.1 °C against a yearly mean of 16.6 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: April to September.

Rain

2,026 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,553 mm of it October to March. Wettest month December at 354 mm, driest month July at 18 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,235 mm to 2,708 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,025 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,026 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 46 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 13, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 12.5 °C in February (across the grid cells of the range 8.5 °C to 15.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 22.7 °C in August (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is 12.5 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, February, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell that is mostly sea and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 63 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Helichrysum melaleucum through the yearWarmest month August, mean daily high 23 °C; coldest month February, mean nightly low 12.5 °C; 2,026 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.5°10°15°20°25°°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 16–46RH 63–65%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 41 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C15 / 12–1715 / 12–1716 / 13–1716 / 13–1718 / 15–1920 / 19–2122 / 21–2323 / 22–2322 / 20–2320 / 17–2218 / 14–2016 / 13–18
Night °C13 / 9–1613 / 9–1513 / 9–1513 / 9–1514 / 11–1717 / 15–1818 / 18–1919 / 18–2119 / 16–2117 / 14–2015 / 11–1814 / 10–17
Rain mm237 / 148–317242 / 153–322202 / 123–273166 / 93–23199 / 55–13253 / 32–6818 / 11–2224 / 16–30113 / 72–144239 / 148–315279 / 173–383354 / 206–479
DLI18 / 15–2124 / 21–2732 / 29–3538 / 36–4043 / 42–4445 / 45–4646 / 46–4742 / 41–4434 / 32–3726 / 23–2919 / 16–2316 / 13–20
RH %63 / 59–6663 / 60–6663 / 60–6563 / 59–6563 / 60–6664 / 60–6763 / 55–6663 / 58–6664 / 61–6665 / 60–6864 / 60–6665 / 60–68

The daily extremes were read at a NASA POWER cell that is 8% land: neither it nor the next candidates whose coldest month's mean nightly low is within 2 °C of the median across cells sit in a POWER cell that is mostly land, and the rule reads a cold floor only from a cell that is mostly land, so none is read for this species. Nor is the coldest month's mean nightly low taken as one: it is a mean of a month's lows, not its coldest night. What that cell gave over 44 years: absolute minimum 8.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 11.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 20.9 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 41 grid cells holding the 337 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1144:3255 (32.775, -17.225). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 41 distinct grid cells holding 337 of the 337 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1144:3255 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells, though its NASA POWER cell is only 8% land and none of the 11 next candidates within 2 °C of the median was mostly land); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 33.00_-17.500, lapse-corrected +556 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 562 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMadeira · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker32.76, -16.943 · in the densest population, 357 records (100% of those in range)
Kew's description“subshrub or shrub” · “subtropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 357 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 337 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 220 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1 km away. 16 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 20 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 7488989 (Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl): Kew's file holds it as Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl (accepted); 70 records, from GBIF's search API on the day of the build.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 357 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Helichrysum melaleucum, photograph 1did not loadHelichrysum melaleucum, photograph 2did not loadHelichrysum melaleucum, photograph 3did not loadHelichrysum melaleucum, photograph 4did not loadHelichrysum melaleucum, photograph 5did not loadHelichrysum melaleucum, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Vítor Jorge, some rights reserved (CC BY) (6).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Musschia aurea Musschia aurea Golden Bell Flower Photo: CC BY, zebedeugalinhaAichryson villosum Aichryson villosum Crassulaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedSinapidendron rupestre Sinapidendron rupestre Brassicaceae Photo: CC BY, fmunozCrambe fruticosa Crambe fruticosa Brassicaceae Photo: CC BY, Vítor Jorge Autonoe madeirensis Asparagaceae Erica platycodon Erica platycodon Island Besom Heath Photo: CC BY, Vítor Jorge

Other Helichrysum 55 in the reference

Helichrysum adenocarpum Helichrysum adenocarpum Pink Everlasting Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloHelichrysum albobrunneum Helichrysum albobrunneum Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Morten RossHelichrysum amorginum Helichrysum amorginum Asteraceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Krzysztof Ziarnek, KenraizHelichrysum appendiculatum Helichrysum appendiculatum Sheep'S-Ears Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloHelichrysum arenarium Helichrysum arenarium Sandy everlasting Photo: CC0, author not stated Helichrysum arenicola Strawflower Helichrysum argyrophyllum Helichrysum argyrophyllum Amatola Weed Photo: CC BY, Leon PerrieHelichrysum arwae Helichrysum arwae Asteraceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Ghislain118 (AD)…Helichrysum aureum Helichrysum aureum Bright Yellow Everlasting Photo: CC0, author not statedHelichrysum auronitens Helichrysum auronitens Golden Everlasting Photo: CC0, Peter WarrenHelichrysum basalticum Helichrysum basalticum Asteraceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Stan ShebsHelichrysum bellum Helichrysum bellum Asteraceae Photo: CC0, author not stated all 56 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Gnaphalium melanophthalmum; Helichrysum melanophthalmum; Virginea melanophtalma. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataiNaturalist

The record

Family
Asteraceae
Described by
Rchb. ex Holl
Native to
Madeira
Wild records
357 in range · 220 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF's key 3131643 is Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb.; the page links Kew's Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl, and the name is cited as Kew cites it
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 70 records of GBIF's key 7488989, Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl (Kew's file holds it as Helichrysum melaleucum Rchb. ex Holl (accepted)): GBIF occurrence search API; 14 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (9 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a herbarium, 4 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 33.00_-17.500, lapse-corrected +556 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: NASA POWER's cell is mostly sea (8% land), so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22read from the page's key and its other keys: 30 from GBIF's key 7488989
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 18 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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