Plants of the Week

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E.g., 14/09/2024
E.g., 14/09/2024

Pavonia praemorsa

Flowers
Common names: yellow mallow
Family: Malvaceae

Year-round, pretty lemon-yellow hibiscus-like flowers, that each only last for a day, on a low, maintenance hardy, indigenous shrub, with lots of potential...

06 / 04 / 2015 | Cherise Viljoen | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Pelargonium lobatum

Pelargonium lobatum
Common names: vine-leaved pelargonium (Eng.); aandblom, aandkaneelbol, kaneelbol, nachtbloem (Afr.)
Family: Geraniaceae

This attractive, hardy, geophytic pelargonium is ideally suited for sandy fynbos gardens, rockeries or pots....

26 / 09 / 2016 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Pyrrosia

Pyrrosia africana
Common names: felt ferns
Family: Polypodiaceae

Pyrrosia is a genus of mostly epiphytic and simple-leaved ferns....

02 / 05 / 2005 | Koos Roux | Compton Herbarium
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Pelargonium articulatum

Pelargonium articulatum, cream or white flowers in early summer
Common names: cliff pelargonium (Eng.); kransmalva (Afr.)
Family: Geraniaceae

Pelargonium articulatum is seldom noticed except when it is in flower, then it is one of the showiest of pelargoniums....

26 / 09 / 2016 | Lize Wolfaardt | Karoo Desert NBG
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Pterocelastrus rostratus

Pterocelastrus rostratus
Common names: red cherrywood, beaked pterocelastrus, red candlewood (Eng.); rooikershout, kersiehout (Afr.); ugobandlovu, usahlulamanye (Zulu); itywina (Xhosa)
Family: Celastraceae

A graceful evergreen tree, or shrub, with a slender stem, a bushy crown and sweet-scented flowers in summer followed by distinctive spiky, orange to reddish-brown...

11 / 09 / 2023 | Loretta Floors | Harold Porter NBG
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Protea cryophila

Protea cryophila
Common names: snow protea, snowball protea (Eng.); sneeuprotea, sneeublom (Afr.)
Family: Proteaceae

Protea cryophila is a sprawling, densely tufted shrub with attractive pink and white flowerheads and leathery, ascending, inward-folded leaves. It is confined...

24 / 10 / 2016 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Pauridia aquatica

Common names: Cape star (Eng.); sterretjie, vleiblommetjie, vlei-uintjie, watersterblom, watersterretjie (Afr.)
Family: Hypoxidaceae

Pauridia aquatica is a small geophytic plant suitable for water gardens and wetlands. Its white, star-shaped flowers with bright yellow centres, make a...

04 / 05 / 2015 | Victoria Wilman | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Petalacte coronata

Leaves and flowers of Petalacte coronata
Common names: paper flower (Eng.); wildesewejaartjie (Afr.)
Family: Asteraceae

Petalacte coronata produces white flower heads in clusters from June to November. The distribution of the plant seems to influence the length of flowering....

10 / 11 / 2014 | Benjamin Festus | Harold Porter NBG
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Polhillia ignota

Polhillia ignota
Common names: due to the rarity of this species, there are no common names recorded for it.
Family: Fabaceae

Only known from two records made over 80 years ago, this lost species was recently rediscovered by the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW)....

14 / 11 / 2016 | Ismail Ebrahim | CREW
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Phymaspermum appressum

Phymaspermum appressum
Common names: none
Family: Asteraceae

Phymaspermum appressum is a drought resistant, Cape daisy shrub with striking white, fading to pink and finally purple, flowers....

11 / 03 / 2019 | Anthony R. Magee | Compton Herbarium
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Protea longifolia

Protea longifolia
Common names: long-leaf sugarbush, long-leaf protea (Eng.); langblaarsuikerbos (Afr.)
Family: Proteaceae

A fast-growing protea, which is easily recognized by its extended central mass of flowers with black-bearded tips, and various flower colours of yellow-green,...

12 / 12 / 2016 | Mashudu Nndanduleni | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Phaulopsis imbricata

Phaulopsis imbricata
Common names: sticky acanth (Eng.); umhlonyane (isiZulu); papleaf (The Gambia), salt of the cow (Senegal)
Family: Acanthaceae

Phaulopsis imbricata is a bushy, perennial herbaceous plant, with small white flowers in short spikes that are sticky to the touch. Easy to grow, it is...

09 / 10 / 2023 | Bongekile Ndlovu | Pretoria NBG
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Pseudarthria hookeri

Pseudarthria hookeri
Common names: velvet bean, bug-catcher (Eng.); fluweelboontjie (Afr.); uphandosi, uqhonqo, uqwashu (isiZulu)
Family: Fabaceae

This large shrub has vibrant, eye catching flowers in late summer. It earned the common name ‘bug-catcher’ because it is reputed to catch bedbugs...

21 / 06 / 2021 | Sibahle Gumede | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Pelargonium heterophyllum

Pelargonium heterophyllum
Common names: because of its rarity there are no recorded common names
Family: Geraniaceae

Pelargonium heterophyllum is a rare species from the Renosterveld, and one of South Africa’s most endangered plants....

18 / 03 / 2019 | Joti Daya | CREW
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Penaea mucronata

Penaea mucronata
Common names: noughts-and-crosses (Eng.)
Family: Penaeaceae

A resprouting shrub, with branches coppicing from a woody base, triangular leaves and yellow to red flowers in spring and summer; found in fynbos, and...

28 / 06 / 2021 | Kamogelo Solomon Modimola | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Paranomus dregei

Paranomus dregei
Common names: scented sceptre (Eng.); parfuumsepter (Afr.)
Family: Proteaceae

A splendid shrub, with scented flowers that attract many insects, and very much catches the eye with its reddish involucral bracts, creamy flowers and...

28 / 06 / 2021 | Mashudu Nndanduleni | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Pelargonium rapaceum

Pelargonium rapaceum, unusual pea-flower-like flowers
Common names: mountain potato (Eng.); bergpatat, bergaartappel, norra, norretjie (Afr.); !norra (Nama)
Family: Geraniaceae

This hardy geophytic pelargonium has attractive foliage, unusual flowers and makes an ideal plant for waterwise gardens in winter rainfall areas....

26 / 12 / 2016 | Shireen Harris | Karoo Desert NBG
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Portulacaria namaquensis

Illustration by Marieta Visagie
Common names: Namaqua porkbush (Eng.), wolftoon, Namakwariem, Namakwaspekboom (Afr.)
Family: Didiereaceae

Portulacaria namaquensis is an ascending, slow-growing shrub with pale creamy to yellowish or greyish, pencil-thin stems bearing many very short spur-branches...

23 / 10 / 2023 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Pavonia columella

Pavonia columella
Common names: pink pavonia (Eng.); indole ebomvu (isiZulu).
Family: Malvaceae

Pavonia columella, a hardy and aromatic subshrub, shows off its delicate, white to pink flowers all year round....

05 / 07 / 2021 | Ashton Welcome | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Pelargonium tricolor

Pelargonium tricolor
Common names: three-colour storksbill, three-colour pelargonium (Eng.); gesiggiemalva (Afr.)
Family: Geraniaceae

A fascinating, low-growing, floriferous shrublet that displays some of the most amazing natural variation of flower colour forms and shapes....

16 / 01 / 2017 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG
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