[2][3] Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting or strawflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia.

Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn; their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals.

It was propagated and developed in Germany in the 1850s, and annual cultivars in a host of colour forms from white to bronze to purple flowers became available.

[10] However, they were unaware that Russian botanist Nikolai Tzvelev had already placed X. bracteatum in the new, and at the time monotypic, genus Xerochrysum the previous year.

[11] This name was derived from the Greek words xeros "dry", and chrysum "golden", likely relating to the nature of the distinctive bracts.

However, a 2002 molecular study of the Gnaphalieae has indicated the genus Xerochrysum is probably polyphyletic, as the two species sampled, X. bracteatum and X. viscosum, were not closely related to each other.

The intermediate bracts are sometimes white, while the outer ones are paler and often streaked reddish or brown (a greater variety of colours are found in cultivars).

The yellow corolla and pistil are located above an ovary with a single ovule, and surrounded by the pappus, the highly modified calyx of Asteraceae.

Xerochrysum subundulatum from alpine and subalpine areas of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania is rhizomatous, and has markedly pointed orange bracts.

[7] It grows as an annual in patches of red sand in Central Australia,[24] responding rapidly to bouts of rainfall to complete its lifecycle.

[26] Associated species in the Sydney Basin include blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) in open forest, and the shrubs Empodisma minus and Baloskion australe in swampy areas.

[27] The brightly coloured bracts act as petals to attract insects such as hoverflies, native bees, and small beetles that pollinate the florets.

Varying planting times or artificially changing light levels might be ways to increase production of flowers outside these months.

[31] There was an outbreak of downy mildew in a cultivated crop of Xerochrysum bracteatum in San Mateo County, California in 2006, in which the leaves developed large chlorotic lesions.

[32] A Phytoplasma infection damaged X. bracteatum crops in the Czech Republic between 1994 and 2001, causing poor growth, bronzing of foliage, and malformation of flower heads.

[33] The root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) attacks and forms galls on the roots, which leads to the morbidity or death of the plant.

X. bracteatum was one of several species that became popular with European royalty and nobility from the early 19th century, yet were little noticed in Australia until the 1860s, when they became more prominent in Australian gardens.

[39] This range won the Gran premio d'oro at the Euroflora exposition in Geneva in 2001, for the best new plant series in the previous three years.

'Florabella Gold', a member of the Florabella series, won the award for best new pot plant (vegetative) in the Society of American Florists' competition of 1999.

They are sensitive to iron deficiency, which presents as yellowing (chlorosis) of the youngest leaves while the leaf veins remain green.