Eremanthus erythropappus

Eremanthus erythropappus, known in Brazil as candeia, is a small evergreen tree of the family Asteraceae characteristic of the cerrado and high-altitude grasslands of southeastern Brazil. It typically forms a slender, gnarled trunk with fibrous, peeling bark and a narrow crown, reaching up to about 10 m. The alternate leaves are lance-shaped to elliptic, leathery, dark green above and densely covered beneath with silvery to whitish felted hairs. The small flower heads are grouped into rounded, branched, somewhat woolly inflorescences and bear pinkish to purplish florets, the heads subtended by reddish bracts that give the species its epithet (erythropappus, red pappus). The wood and foliage are aromatic and rich in essential oil. It grows on poor, well-drained, often rocky soils in seasonally dry montane habitats.