Plants of the Week

Setaria megaphylla

Common names: ribbon grass, broad-leafed bristle grass

Family: Poaceae

Setaria megaphylla may be found along rivers in low-lying areas or forests and in dense bushveld where there is plenty of moisture. ...

29 / 04 / 2002 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Sideroxylon inerme

Common names: white milkwood ( Eng. ); witmelkhout, melkhoutboom, melkbessie (Afr.); aMasethole, umQwashu (Xhosa); aMasethole-amhlope, uMakhwela-fingqane (Zulu)

Family: Sapotaceae

...

26 / 06 / 2006 | Freddie Bosman | Kirstenbosch NBG

Silene undulata

Common names: dream root, gun powder plant, campion (Eng.); unozitholana, ubulawu, undlela zimhlophe (isiXhosa); kleinwildetabak (Afr.)

Family: Caryophyllaceae

This small herb is used as a 'dream plant'....

30 / 09 / 2013 | Vathiswa Zikishe | CREW

Searsia lucida

Common names: glossy crowberry, glossy currant, glossy wild currant (Eng.); blinktaaibos, slaptaaibos (Afr.); intlokolotshane-ebomvu, umchane, amapozi (isiXhosa); i

Family: Anacardiaceae

A versatile shrub or small tree, with attractive shiny leaves and creamy white flowers, which are followed by green fruits that ripen to red-brown and...

21 / 12 / 2015 | Cherise Viljoen | Kirstenbosch NBG

Siphonochilus aethiopicus

Common names: Natal ginger, Wild ginger (English); Wildegemmer (Afrikaans); indungulo, isiphephetho (Zulu)

Family: Zingiberaceae

...

11 / 03 / 2002 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Solanum aculeastrum

Common names: goat bitter-apple, bitter-apple, goat apple, poison apple (Eng.); bok-bitterappel, bitterappel, bokappel, gifappel (Afr.); thola (Tswana); murulwa (Ve

Family: Solanaceae

...

01 / 03 / 2004 | M Welman | National Herbarium Pretoria

Solanum giganteum

Common names: healing-leaf tree, giant bitter-apple, red bitter-apple, red bitter-berry, thorny bug-tree (Eng.); geneesblaarboom, grootbitterappel, rooibitterbessie

Family: Solanaceae

This big shrub with its colourful, long-lasting berries and large leaves with silvery undersides, makes an unusual hedge or background plant....

19 / 01 / 2004 | M Welman | National Herbarium Pretoria

Sorghum bicolor

Common names: sorghum (Eng.); graansorghum (Afr); mabele (Pedi,Sotho,Ndebele); amabele(Z); amazimba (Xhosa)

Family: Poaceae

This crop plant has been cultivated in southern Africa for over 3 000 years....

31 / 01 / 2005 | E T Rampho | National Herbarium Pretoria

Sagittanthera mzimvubuensis

Common names: Mzimvubu-ruby (Eng.); kransrobyn (Afr.)

Family: Hyacinthaceae

Sagittanthera mzimvubuensis is a geophyte with decorative club-shaped, ruby-green bulb scales and pendent, terete leaves, growing on cliffs along the Mzimvubu...

04 / 01 / 2016 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Sparaxis grandiflora subsp. grandiflora

Flower showing vertical anthers and style to one side

Common names: Cape buttercup, sparaxis (Eng.); botterblom, ferweel, ferweeltjie, fluweeltjie, perskalkoentjie, perskalossie (Afr.)

Family: Iridaceae

Sparaxis grandiflora is indeed an attractive species and it is not surprising that it was introduced to Kew Gardens as early as 1758. However, as Du Plessis...

14 / 08 / 2006 | Caitlin Von Witt | CREW

Sparaxis elegans

Common names: Cape buttercup, sparaxis, pale harlequin flower (Eng.); spogfluweeltjie (Afr.)

Family: Iridaceae

Sparaxis elegans is, as its name suggests, one of the most elegant and aesthetically pleasing species the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) has to...

09 / 06 / 2014 | Brittany Arendse | CREW

Sparaxis maculosa

Common names: Cape buttercup, sparaxis, wandflower (Eng.); botterblom, ferweel, ferweeltjie, fluweeltjie, geelkalkoentjie, geelkalossie (Afr.)

Family: Iridaceae

Known from only two localities, one recently discovered, this spectacularly large-flowered species is sadly frail in its magnificence, a shadow cast upon...

17 / 03 / 2008 | Caitlin Von Witt | CREW

Salpinctium natalense

Common names: none

Family: Acanthaceae

Salpinctium natalense is a lovely and rare herbaceous perennial that is known from only one site in KwaZulu-Natal; it is well suited to cool, shady...

18 / 01 / 2016 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG

Sparrmannia africana

Common names: Cape stock rose, wild stock rose, African hemp, Cape hollyhock (Eng.); Kaapse stokroos, wildestokroos (Afr.)

Family: Malvaceae

Sparrmannia africana is an easy-to-grow large shrub for a shady area with lush, soft, heart-shaped leaves and pretty white flowers with a puff of...

08 / 04 / 2013 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Sarcophyte sanguinea subsp. sanguinea

Common names: wolwekos (Afr.); ihlule, umavumbuka (isiZulu)

Family: Balanophoraceae

Sarcophyte sanguinea subsp. sanguinea is a parasitic plant that occurs on the roots of trees and shrubs, especially on African acacias (Vachellia species)....

25 / 09 / 2017 | Mduduzi Nkwanyana | National Herbarium Pretoria

Spatalla mollis

Common names: woolly spoon

Family: Proteaceae

Spatalla mollis boasts attractive flower headlets of white or mauve flowers from July to December. The small shrubs blend in well with the surrounding...

29 / 10 / 2012 | Benjamin Festus | Harold Porter NBG

Sphagnum

Common names: peat moss, bog moss, turf moss

Family: Sphagnaceae

Sphagnum is a cosmopolitan as well as economically and ecologically important genus of mosses. ...

23 / 03 / 2009 | Nonkululo Phephu | National Herbarium Pretoria

Sphenostylis angustifolia

Common names: wild sweet-pea (Eng.); wilde-ertjie (Afr.)

Family: Fabaceae

Sphenostylis angustifolia, or the wild sweet-pea, is a lovely green perennial shrublet with an extensive woody rootstock that decorates the Highveld with...

01 / 12 / 2008 | Alicia Grobler | National Herbarium Pretoria