▁or ▁sub umb ell ate ▁ped un cles . ▁In ▁a ▁few ▁species ▁the ▁flowers ▁are ▁solit ary . ▁The ▁flowers ▁are ▁heter og am ous , ▁a ▁few ▁female ▁flor ets ▁in ▁each ▁head ▁occurr ing ▁together ▁with ▁several ▁bis ex ual , ▁ster ile ▁disk - fl or ets . ▁The ▁head ▁becomes ▁very ▁w ool ly ▁after ▁flow ering , ▁surrounded ▁by ▁invol uc ral ▁b ract s . ▁The ▁re cept acle ▁is ▁pale ate ▁and ▁w ool ly . ▁ ▁Distribution ▁The ▁various ▁species ▁occur ▁mainly ▁in ▁South ▁Africa ▁and ▁Nam ib ia . ▁ ▁Us es ▁Poss ibly ▁because ▁of ▁its ▁f anci ed ▁res embl ance ▁to ▁ro sem ary ▁and ▁its ▁pleasant ▁her bal ▁od our , ▁various ▁species ▁have ▁been ▁used ▁on ▁a ▁small ▁scale ▁in ▁cook ing . ▁Free ▁range ▁liv est ock ▁brow se ▁the ▁plants ▁to ▁various ▁degrees , ▁and ▁along ▁with ▁various ▁other ▁Kar o oid ▁bush es , ▁this ▁l ends ▁the ▁meat ▁a ▁distinct ive ▁flav our ▁and ▁a ▁character ▁that ▁some ▁people ▁rel ish ▁in ▁Kar oo ▁l amb ▁for ▁example . ▁ ▁Vari ous ▁species ▁also ▁have ▁been ▁used ▁widely ▁in ▁folk ▁medicine . ▁The ▁leaf ▁of ▁E rio ce phal us ▁a fr ican us ▁when ▁light ly ▁rub bed , ▁has ▁a ▁pleasant ▁od our . ▁The ▁plant ▁yields ▁ 0 . 3 % ▁of ▁a ▁dark ▁green ▁pet role um ▁ ether ▁extract , ▁which , ▁on ▁steam ▁dist ill ation ▁in ▁vac