Plants of the Week

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E.g., 01/12/2024
E.g., 01/12/2024

Acmadenia kiwanensis

Acmadenia kiwanensis
Common names: Kiwane porcelain flower
Family: Rutaceae

...

26 / 08 / 2019 | Sibahle Gumede | Kwelera NBG
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Aloe pretoriensis

Aloe pretoriensis
Common names: Pretoria aloe (Eng.); Pretoria aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

A widespread aloe that occurs from Pretoria in Gauteng, to Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, with a neat, compact rosette of thin leaves and...

07 / 10 / 2019 | Ntuthuko Mabuya | Pretoria NBG
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Apodolirion macowanii

Apodolirion macowanii
Common names: spiralled leaf ground lily, MacOwan’s ground lily
Family: Amaryllidaceae

The beautiful spiralled leaf Apodolirion macowanii has delicate, white flowers that open for just two days and have a strong sweet-scent, which might uplift...

04 / 11 / 2019 | Pamela Nondumiso Sgatya | CREW
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Aloe kniphofioides

Aloe kniphofioides
Common names: grass aloe, red poker grass aloe (Eng.); grasaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe kniphofioides is an attractive, stemless, grass-like aloe, with short serrated leaves and an ovoid, bulb-like swelling below ground. The lax inflorescence...

11 / 11 / 2019 | Mpho Mathalauga | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Aloe spicata

Aloe spicata
Common names: Lebombo aloe, bottle-brush aloe, Gazaland aloe (Eng.); lebombo-aalwyn (Afr.); inhlaba (isiZulu), tshikhopa (Tshivenda)
Family: Asphodelaceae

A most rewarding plant to cultivate, as they can tolerate long periods of drought, but still thrive and flower beautifully. Their striking beauty and often...

06 / 01 / 2020 | Thato Moeketsane | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Aloe rupestris

Aloe rupestris
Common names: bottlebrush aloe, rock aloe (Eng); borselaalwyn, kraalaalwyn (Afr.); inhlaba (Siswati); uphondonde (isiXhosa); inkalane, uphondonde, umhlabanhazi (isi
Family: Asphodelaceae

A handsome aloe with tightly packed yellow flowers that mature to an alluring scarlet or deep orange, forming beautiful, breathtaking, bottlebrush inflorescences...

20 / 01 / 2020 | Jermaine Christoffels | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Adromischus maculatus

Adromischus maculatus
Common names: mottled pig's ears, calico hearts, chocolate heart, chocolate drop, cheetah heart (Eng.); bontplakkie (Afr.)
Family: Crassulaceae

An ornamental succulent with fairly flat, wedge-shaped, thick leaves, which are often beautifully marked with chocolate-brown spots, giving them a marbled...

03 / 02 / 2020 | Katlego Selemela | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Asclepias

Asclepias woodii (Photo A Shuttleworth)
Common names: milkweed (Eng.); melkbos (Afr.)
Family: Apocynaceae

Members of the genus Asclepias (as most of the taxa in the family Apocynaceae in the broad sense, subfamily Asclepiadoideae), are an interesting group...

17 / 02 / 2020 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Asclepias genus

Asclepias woodii (Photo A Shuttleworth)
Common names: milkweed (Eng.); melkbos (Afr.)
Family: Apocynaceae

Members of the genus Asclepias (as most of the taxa in the family Apocynaceae in the broad sense, subfamily Asclepiadoideae), are an interesting group...

17 / 02 / 2020 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Aloe castanea

Aloe castanea
Common names: cat's tail aloe (Eng.), katstertaalwyn (Afr.), borolo, suwopa, sekgopha (Northern Sotho)
Family: Asphodelaceae

An attractive, large aloe that occurs in savanna and grassland, with very distinctive spreading branches and snake-like Inflorescences; and flowers filled...

02 / 03 / 2020 | Ntuthuko Mabuya | Pretoria NBG
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Adenia glauca

Adenia glauca
Common names: blue leaved elephant’s foot (Eng.); bobbebjaangif (Afr.)
Family: Passifloraceae

The oddly shaped, swollen stem and twining vines of Adenia glauca can be seen growing in the driest parts of southern Africa. Its soft greyish green, palmately-shaped...

16 / 03 / 2020 | Jermaine Christoffels | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Adromischus triflorus

Adromischus triflorus
Common names: duck's foot, calico heart (Eng.); bontplakkie, eendevoet (Afr.)

Family: Crassulaceae

The spotted leaves of Adromischus triflorus would give any miniature or water-wise landscape a bit of texture and contrast. This evergreen species is compact...

23 / 03 / 2020 | Ricardo Riddles | Karoo Desert NBG
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Ammocharis baumii

Ammocharis baumii as a container subject. (Photo Graham Duncan)
Common names: Baum’s ammocharis
Family: Amaryllidaceae

Ammocharis baumii is a dwarf bulbous plant, with attractive, but fleeting, pink, sweetly-scented flowers, with an extremely long perianth tube. It is easily...

30 / 03 / 2020 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Albuca heydenrychii

Albuca heydenrychii
Common names: yellow cliff-albuca (Eng.); krans-slymstok (Afr.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

Albuca heydenrychii is a cliff-dwelling, bulbous plant with soft, flaccid leaves up to 1 m long and a raceme of bright yellow flowers in midsummer. It...

27 / 07 / 2020 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Apodolirion amyanum

Apodolirion amyanum
Common names: Amy’s apodolirion (Eng.)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

...

21 / 09 / 2020 | Pamela Nondumiso Sgatya | CREW
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Anisodontea dissecta

Anisodontea dissecta
Common names: Ruens mallow (Eng.)
Family: Malvaceae

Anisodontea dissecta is an attractive shrub with a bright showy display of white to light pink flowers to brighten your garden in spring.Fig. 1: The white...

05 / 10 / 2020 | Lindokuhle Sibisi | Compton Herbarium
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Asparagus retrofractus

Asparagus retrofractus
Common names: zigzag asparagus, ming fern bush; ming asparagus; pom pom asparagus (Eng.); katdoring (Afr.)
Family: Asparagaceae

Quite often, this plant is mistaken for a fern when in-fact it is an attractive, scrambling herbaceous flowering plant, that has zigzagging stems clothed...

12 / 10 / 2020 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe andersonii

Aloe andersonii
Common names: Mount Anderson cliff aloe (Eng.); Mount Anderson-grasaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

 A cliff-dwelling grass aloe, with soft leaves drooping from the sandstone cliff faces of Mount Anderson. It flowers in spring, when the solitary...

19 / 10 / 2020 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aeollanthus rydingianus

Aeollanthus rydingianus
Common names: Omavanda rock-sage (Eng.); omavanda-klipsalie (Afr.)
Family: Lamiaceae

A very aromatic, fast-growing, branched, semi-succulent shrublet, with sticky, green leaves, bearing mauve, 2-lipped flowers in winter and spring. It is...

02 / 11 / 2020 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe condyae

Aloe condyae
Common names: Barberton cliff-aloe (Eng.); barberton grasaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe condyae is a rare, dwarf, cluster-forming, cliff-dwelling succulent, up to 100 mm high, with short, ascending stems and leaves in a rosette. It is...

23 / 11 / 2020 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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