Western and Eastern Cape fynbos are world renowned areas for plant diversity and beauty of the species represented. The fynbos belt from Clanwilliam in the west to Port Elizabeth in the east is in some places over 200 km wide.   It contains about 9000 flowering plant species, or 30% of the South African total. The diversity of plant species representation is said to be the highest on earth.

This flower is believed to be Liparia spendens.  Some of the Liparias are known as mountain dahlias or nodding-heads; skaamblom in Afrikaans. Liparia splendens occurs in flat land and mountain fynbos among rocks, often on the cooler, southern slopes.  It is rare and endangered as flat land in the high density areas of the Western Cape is sought after for various forms of human usage.

The two subspecies of Liparia splendens, viz. subspecies splendens and subspecies comantha differ only in more hairiness of the latter subspecies on the calyx lobes and flower bracts, as well as having slightly smaller flower-heads (www.plantzafrica.com).