Plants of the Week

Adansonia digitata

Common names: baobab, Cream of Tartar tree, monkey-bread tree, lemonade tree (Eng.); kremetartboom(Afr.); isimuku, umShimulu, isiMuhu (Zulu); ximuwu (Tsonga); mowan

Family: Malvaceae

Regarded as the largest succulent plant in the world, the baobab tree is steeped in a wealth of mystique, legend and superstition wherever it occurs in...

10 / 02 / 2003 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Aloe haemanthifolia

This plant is now called Kumara haemanthifolia....

14 / 11 / 2011 | | Walter Sisulu NBG

Acmadenia kiwanensis

Common names: Kiwane porcelain flower

Family: Rutaceae

...

26 / 08 / 2019 | Sibahle Gumede | Kwelera NBG

Adenandra gummifera

Common names: Potberg china flower, gummy china flower (Eng.); Potberg-porseleinblom (Afr.)

Family: Rutaceae

A beautiful, aromatic, fynbos shrub with showy white porcelain-like flowers in winter and spring....

07 / 08 / 2006 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Aloe plicatilis

This plant is now called Kumara plicatilis....

01 / 01 / 2003 | | Kirstenbosch NBG

Aloe vanbalenii

Common names: van balen's aloe, crawling octopus (Eng.); van-balen-se-aalwyn (Afr.); icenalamatshe, icenandhlovu (isiZulu); lihala (siSwati)

Family: Asphodelaceae

This is one of the most beautiful and distinctive aloes, with its long, twisted and recurved leaves resembling an octopus....

22 / 05 / 2017 | Anelisiwe Nocwanya | Karoo Desert NBG

Adenandra obtusata

Common names: Agulhas china flower

Family: Rutaceae

Showy, white flowers that shimmer in the sun brighten up this evergreen shrub and attract insects, butterflies and bees to your garden. Belonging to the...

02 / 05 / 2005 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Aloe variegata

This plant is now called Gonialoe variegata....

30 / 06 / 2008 | | Kirstenbosch NBG

Adenandra uniflora

Common names: china flower, shepherd's delight (Eng.); Kommetjie teewater, bergskaapboegoe (Afr.)

Family: Rutaceae

...

11 / 08 / 2003 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Aloe reynoldsii

Common names: yellow spineless aloe, Mbashe aloe

Family: Asphodelaceae

...

29 / 05 / 2017 | Ntuthuko Mabuya | Pretoria NBG

Adenium

Common names: A. boehmianum : pylgif (Afr.); ouzuwo (Herero). A. multiflorum : impala lily, Sabi star, kudu lily ( Eng. ); impalalelie (Afr.). A. obesum : desert ro

Family: Apocynaceae

Adeniums, which all have poisonous sap, produce flowers in striking reds, pinks and mauves; red-and-white bicoloured flowers are fairly common. They are...

18 / 06 / 2007 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | Pretoria NBG

Aloe simii

Common names: Sim’s aloe

Family: Asphodelaceae

A beautiful, stemless aloe, with a rosette of broad, milky-green leaves and eye-catching strawberry pink flowers in summer; a rare and endangered endemic...

20 / 12 / 2021 | Winfred Velephi Ngwenya | Lowveld NBG

Adenium multiflorum

Common names: impala lily, Sabie star, kudu lily (Eng.); impalalelie (Afr.)

Family: Apocynaceae

Adenium multiflorum is the best known of the South African adeniums. It flowers in winter when most of the surrounding vegetation is rather dull by comparison...

28 / 06 / 2004 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria

Adenopodia spicata

Common names: spiny splinter bean (Eng.); stekelsplinterboontjie (Afr.); lugagane (siSwati); umlungumabele (isiXhosa); ibobo, ubobo, umbambangwe, umlungumabele (isi

Family: Fabaceae

It's spiny all over, and the whip-like young stems lean out into the path and make themselves felt by the unwary. Meet the spiny splinter bean, a characteristic...

14 / 05 / 2012 | Hugh Glen | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium

Adenia fruticosa subsp. fruticosa

Common names: Sekhukhune greenstem, greenstem (Eng.); sekoekoenie-bobbejaangif (Afr.).

Family: Passifloraceae

Adenia fruticosa is one of the succulent plants that is easily recognised by its very attractive, tuberous, swollen, green stem, sometimes splitting into...

27 / 12 / 2021 | Nomndeni Nkosi | Kirstenbosch NBG

Aeollanthus parvifolius

Common names: rock sage (Eng.), klipsalie (Afr.)

Family: Lamiaceae

Aeollanthus parvifolius is a drought-tolerant, succulent, autumn-flowering plant suitable for dry bushveld and grassland gardens. Its succulent nature...

28 / 02 / 2005 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Adenium swazicum

Common names: summer impala lily, Swazi lily (Eng.); somerimpalalelie, Swazi-lelie (Afr.); sisila-sempala (SiSwati)

Family: Apocynaceae

A dwarf, succulent shrub with pretty, lily-like, pink flowers borne on thick branches from late summer to autumn; a good rockery plant and a useful medicinal...

12 / 06 / 2017 | Mufhati Bulannga | Lowveld NBG

Aerva leucura

Common names: aambeibossie

Family: Amaranthaceae

It is not the size of the flowers, but rather the reliable show Aerva leucura gives in the herbaceous border from summer to autumn, that makes this a worthwhile...

09 / 04 / 2001 | Liesl Van der Walt | Kirstenbosch NBG

Afzelia quanzensis

Common names: pod mahogany, lucky bean tree ( Eng. ); peulmahonie (Afr.); iNkehli (Zulu); Mambakofi (Swahili)

Family: Fabaceae

Afzelia quanzensis is a very attractive, medium-sized, deciduous tree, with bright green leaves that turn to an attractive yellowish colour in autumn....

11 / 09 / 2006 | Mhlonishwa D Dlamini | Walter Sisulu NBG

Agapanthus praecox subsp. minimus 'Adelaide'

Common names: Adelaide agapanthus

Family: Agapanthaceae

This floriferous dwarf agapanthus is the first to start flowering and one of the last to finish, a star performer in full sun or semi-shade....

16 / 01 / 2006 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

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