Plants of the Week

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E.g., 11/10/2024
E.g., 11/10/2024

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 baueri subsp. gouriquae

Erica baueri subsp. gouriquae
Common names: Gouriqua heath, bridal heath
Family: Ericaceae

Erica baueri subsp. baueri is one of the best known ericas and popular as a South African fynbos garden plant. A second subspecies, subsp. gouriquae, was...

07 / 09 / 2015 | 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 bolusiae var. cyathiformis

Erica bolusiae var. cyathiformis
Common names: Kraaifontein heath
Family: Ericaceae

The Kraaifontein heath is Extinct in the Wild and could have become Extinct, had it not been for the actions of one individual. It is a variable and attractive...

27 / 09 / 2021 | Kamogelo Solomon Modimola | 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 calcareophila

Erica calcareophila
Common names: limestone heath (Eng.)
Family: Ericaceae

With the limestone hills of Groot Hagelkraal being its only home, Erica calcareophila occurs on cliffs and rock ledges, showcasing its pure white, urn-shaped...

24 / 07 / 2023 | Yandisa Ndzeku | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica cameronii

Erica cameronii. Photo Ross Turner
Common names: Hex River heath, Cameron heath, crimson heath (Eng.); heksrivierheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica cameronii is a strikingly beautiful, rock-dwelling species, limited to high altitudes in the Hex River Mountains. One particular shrub known amongst...

22 / 06 / 2015 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch 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 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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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 cubica var. cubica

Erica cubica
Common names: cube heath (Eng.) kubusheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica cubica displays a mass of deep pink flowers in early summer....

25 / 09 / 2023 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica curtophylla

Erica curtophylla. Photo Jenny Potgieter
Common names: curved-leaf heath (Eng.); krulblaarheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica curtophylla produces small pink to dark pink, cup-shaped flowers, mostly in spring, from August to October....

19 / 06 / 2023 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch 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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