Plants of the Week

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E.g., 01/06/2023

Erica abietina subsp. atrorosea

Erica abietina subsp. atrorosea growing above Kalk Bay
Common names: rosy pink heath, wine-red heath
Family: Ericaceae

Found only on the Cape Peninsula, this heath is known to older mountain walkers as Erica phylicifolia. When Dr Ted Oliver revised this section...

23 / 03 / 2009 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica abietina subsp. abietina

Erica abietina subsp. abietina flowers and leaves
Common names: red heath (Eng.); rooiheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Hikers walking on Table Mountain will experience the delights of the amazing diversity of plant life and the many flowers that are to be seen every month...

01 / 06 / 2009 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica baccans

Erica baccans shrub
Common names: berry heath (Eng.); bessieheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica baccans is a well-known, showy species that produces bright, cherry-pink splashes of colour on the middle to lower slopes of the Cape Peninsula....

18 / 01 / 2010 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica bakeri

Erica bakeri. Photo: Chris Burger
Common names: Wemmershoek marsh heath
Family: Ericaceae

Erica bakeri is one of the most threatened species in the Ericaceae family. It is only known from one locality that is threatened by alien vegetation,...

14 / 05 / 2007 | Ismail Ebrahim | CREW
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Erica baueri subsp. baueri

Erica baueri
Common names: bridal heath, Albertinia heath (Eng.); witheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica baueri subsp. baueri is one of the most popular and widely cultivated of the South African species. It is one of the few ericas that regularly...

02 / 07 / 2001 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica blenna var. grandiflora

Image of E. blenna var. grandiflora Photo: Plantweb
Common names: lantern heath, Riversdale heath (Eng.); belletjieheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica blenna var. grandiflora is unusual in flower shape and colour and these attributes contribute to making South African ericas uniquely...

14 / 07 / 2008 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica brachialis

Erica brachialis old and new flowers
Common names: hairy-tube heath
Family: Ericaceae

Erica brachialis is not the showiest of ericas; it is a long-lived, easy-to-grow and discreetly decorative shrub that is well suited to coastal gardens...

23 / 04 / 2012 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica caffra

Erica caffra flowers
Common names: water heath, sweet-scented heath (Eng.); water-heide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

When walking along a stream or near a wetland on a warm day in spring or early summer, a strong sweet smell is sometimes the first indication that one...

10 / 11 / 2008 | Jane Forrester | Harold Porter NBG
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Erica canaliculata

Erica canaliculata
Common names: channelled heath
Family: Ericaceae

Erica canaliculata is a most impressive species that grows into a small tree that is covered with thousands of small pink flowers in summer. This...

05 / 03 / 2012 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica caterviflora

In flower
Common names: honey tree erica (Eng.); heuningboomheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica caterviflora is a magnificent erica that was thought to have become extinct by the early 1990s, but the author rediscovered it in 2006 while...

28 / 04 / 2008 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica cerinthoides

Erica cerinthoides
Common names: fire erica, fire heath, red hairy heath, rooihaartjie, klipheide
Family: Ericaceae

...

13 / 08 / 2001 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica amoena

Erica amoena
Common names: feathery heath (Eng.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica amoena is a fairly lanky little shrub, growing in marshy and swampy areas on the Cape Peninsula, where it is rare and endemic, which makes it special....

29 / 11 / 2021 | Kamogelo Solomon Modimola | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica clavisepala

Erica clavisepala flowers and leaves
Common names: club heath, Cape Point marsh heath
Family: Ericaceae

Erica clavisepala is a rare decorative little heath, well suited to fynbos gardens and those on the sandy flats....

05 / 12 / 2011 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica coccinea subsp. coccinea

Erica coccinea subsp. coccinea
Common names: tassel heath, small tassel heath (Eng.); hangertjie (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica coccinea subsp. coccinea is a decorative fynbos shrub with large, pendulous tubular flowers, in a range of colours, that attract sunbirds to the...

09 / 05 / 2011 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Eucomis regia

Eucomis regia
Common names: western dwarf pineapple flower
Family: Hyacinthaceae

This is the only winter rainfall Eucomis and its flowering pattern is precisely opposite to all the other pineapple lilies. It is also one of the few species...

26 / 08 / 2019 | Dineo Dibakwane | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Erica nabea

Erica nabea
Common names: sepal heath, MacNab’s heath (Eng.)
Family: Ericaceae

This medium sized shrub produces spikes of unusual, greenish flowers from late autumn until the end of winter....

06 / 12 / 2021 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica croceovirens

Erica croceovirens
Common names: Doringrivier heath, saffron-&-green heath (Eng.) doringrivierheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica croceovirens is a newly described species which is closely related to other tubular southern Cape species such as E. versicolor, E....

14 / 04 / 2014 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica cruenta

Erica cruenta
Common names: crimson heath (Eng.), rooiheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

The beautiful and bright, shiny red flowers of Erica cruenta stand out amongst the fynbos vegetation and put on quite the show....

13 / 12 / 2021 | Karen Wall | Harold Porter NBG
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Erica curviflora

Erica curviflora var. curviflora
Common names: water heath (Eng.); waterbos, waterheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica curviflora var. curviflora is a spectacular and widespread species occurring throughout the fynbos region and as far-east as Grahamstown....

13 / 09 / 2010 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica denticulata

Erica denticulata
Common names: scented heath (Eng.); lekkerruikheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica denticulata stands out in a family of over 700 species as being one of the few that have scented flowers. The scent is reminiscent of carnations...

14 / 02 / 2005 | Roger Tuckeldoe | Kirstenbosch NBG
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