Plants of the Week

Berula repanda

Common names: Water parsnip

Family: Apiaceae

Berula repanda is a luxuriantly foliaged plant, ideal for a garden pond or wet patch, and it is in full flower now....

11 / 02 / 2013 | B Busch | Compton Herbarium

Bulbinella eburniflora

Common names: bleekkatstert (Afr.)

Family: Asphodelaceae

Bulbinella eburniflora is a vulnerable species from the Bokkeveld Plateau, threatened with habitat loss due to ploughing and livestock grazing....

30 / 03 / 2015 | Eugene Marinus | Hantam NBG

Berzelia abrotanoides

Common names: redlegs (Eng.); rooibeentjies, vleiknoppiesbos, kolkol, fonteinbos (Afr.)

Family: Bruniaceae

Berzelia abrotanoides is a distinctive and beautiful, softly textured shrub endemic to the Western Cape. Displays of masses of fluffy ball-like flower...

03 / 12 / 2012 | Victoria Wilman | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership

Berzelia lanuginosa

Common names: common button bush, common berzelia (Eng.); vleiknoppiesbos, vleikolkol, kolkolbos (Afr.)

Family: Bruniaceae

Berzelia lanuginosa is one of twelve species in the genus Berzelia in the Bruniaceae, one of the few families that is endemic to the Cape floral kingdom...

07 / 03 / 2005 | Roger Tuckeldoe | Kirstenbosch NBG

Bulbine suurbergensis

Common names: Suurberg Bulbine (Eng.); suurbergkopieva (Afr.)

Family: Asphodelaceae

Bulbine suurbergensis is an aloe-like plant, with drooping, sparsely branched stems and soft leaves, that hangs from the quartzitic sandstone cliff faces...

22 / 03 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Blechnum tabulare

Common names: mountain deer fern, mountain blechnum, false tree fern (Eng.); valsboomvaring (Afr.)

Family: Blechnaceae

This is a large attractive fern for the shady garden....

25 / 03 / 2002 | Mhlonishwa D Dlamini | Walter Sisulu NBG

Brachystelma gerrardii

Common names: Gerrard’s Brachystelma (Eng.)

Family: Apocynaceae

The shiny, lush, metallic green, or sometimes black flowers, are a rare delight to the eyes. Although having an extensive range across 3 provinces, this...

29 / 03 / 2021 | Aaliyah Motala | CREW

Bolboschoenus maritimus

Common names: alkali bullrush (Eng.); snygras, snyruigte (Afr.)

Family: Cyperaceae

...

06 / 03 / 2006 | Victoria Wilman | Working For Wetlands

Bolusanthus speciosus

Common names: tree wisteria; Vanwykshout (Afr.); mogaba (Northern Sotho); umHolo (Zulu) National tree list no.: 222

Family: Fabaceae

The tree wisteria is certainly one of the most spectacular of our indigenous trees when in flower, mimicking the splendour of the jacaranda, which unfortunately...

05 / 05 / 2003 | Nick Klapwijk | Pretoria NBG

Barleria monticola

Common names: mountain barleria (Eng.); berg barleria (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

This is a lovely groundcover for a sunny spot in your garden, especially if you live in a frosty area....

06 / 04 / 2015 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Bonatea speciosa

Common names: green wood orchid (Eng.); moederkappie, Oktoberlelie (Afr.)

Family: Orchidaceae

Bonatea speciosa, a terrestrial orchid, is admired for its delicate, somewhat bizarre, green and white flowers. It is also comparatively easy to grow...

05 / 12 / 2005 | H Kurzweil | Compton Herbarium

Boophone disticha

Common names: century plant, poison bulb, sore-eye flower (Eng.); gifbol, seeroogblom, kopseerblom, boesmangif, perdespook (Afr.); kxutsana-yanaha, motlatsisa (So.S

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Wherever you live in South Africa, in a summer- or winter-rainfall region, along the coast or in a semi-arid area, try Boophone disticha in your garden,...

22 / 08 / 2005 | E Lithudzha | Pretoria NBG

Bulbine ramosa

Common names: Badspoort bulbine (Eng.); badspoortkopieva (Afr.)

Family: Asphodelaceae

Bulbine ramosa is an obligatory cliff-hugger, with bright green, ascending, pencil-like, tapering leaves and a solitary inflorescence of yellow flowers...

05 / 04 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Boophone haemanthoides

Common names: Namaqua century plant (Eng.); gifbol, kwaslelie(Afr.)

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Boophone haemanthoides is a summer-flowering geophyte growing up to 500 mm tall. It looks very much like a primitive plant with at least two thirds of...

28 / 02 / 2011 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG

Boraginaceae

Common names: forget-me-not, borage family Class: Angiospermae: Dicotyledones

Family: Boraginaceae

Members of the family Boraginaceae are herbs, shrubs or trees, characterized by leaves with rough hairs, inflorescences sometimes coiled at their tips,...

23 / 08 / 2004 | Elizabeth Retief | National Herbarium Pretoria

Boscia albitrunca

Common names: shepherd's tree (Eng.); witgat (Afr.); siPhiso (Sw), Mohlôpi (Northern Sotho); Xukutsi (Tswana); Muthobi (Venda)

Family: Brassicaceae

The shepherd's tree is the most common of the eight species in its genus and is usually found in the drier parts of southern Africa. It is often called...

08 / 08 / 2005 | Marcini Govender | National Herbarium Pretoria

Bowiea volubilis

Common names: climbing onion, climbing green lily, bowiea (Eng.); knolklimop (Af.); ugibisisila; iguleni (isiZulu); umgaqana (isiXhosa); gibizisila (siSwati)

Family: Asparagaceae

Bowiea volubilis subsp volubilis has an unusual succulent adaptation - climbing inflorescences that harvest photosynthetic light in the absence of aerial...

14 / 03 / 2011 | Suvarna Parbhoo | CREW

Bulbine rupicola

Common names: dwarf cliff bulbine (Eng.); dwergkopieva (Afr.)

Family: Asphodelaceae

A dwarf cliff-hugger, with numerous dwarf rosettes of dull green, rounded, soft, succulent leaves from cliffs in the southwestern corner of the Eastern...

19 / 04 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Bowkeria citrina

Common names: yellow shell-flower bush (Eng.); geelskulpblombos (Afr.)

Family: Stilbaceae

The wonderful display of the bright yellow flowers, the fragrance of the leaves and the polished brown fruit of Bowkeria citrina, make this beautiful...

09 / 06 / 2008 | Isabel Johnson | KwaZulu-Natal NBG

Barleria oxyphylla

Common names: turf barleria

Family: Acanthaceae

Rare but interesting....

04 / 02 / 2019 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

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