Plants of the Week

Grewia robusta

Common names: Karoo crossberry, Karoo crossberry raisin (Eng.); karookruisbessie (Afr); umnqabaza (Xhosa).

Family: Malvaceae

The sweetly scented Grewia robusta has beautiful, bright pink flowers. It is a frost-resistant, hardy shrub or small tree that is adaptable to...

24 / 12 / 2012 | M.S. Mothogoane | National Herbarium Pretoria

Euryops linearis

Common names: De Hoop euryops (Eng.)

Family: Asteraceae

Euryops linearis is a showy, easy-to-grow, tall shrub, covered with bright yellow daisies in spring....

31 / 12 / 2012 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Lapeirousia corymbosa

Common names: blue cabong (Eng.); bloucabong, koringblom, koringblommetjie (Afr.)

Family: Iridaceae

Lapeirousia corymbosa is now classified as Codonorhiza corymbosa ...

07 / 01 / 2013 | Sarah-Leigh Hutchinson | Kirstenbosch NBG

Nemesia suaveolens

Common names: fragrant nemesia

Family: Scrophulariaceae

...

07 / 01 / 2013 | J Ready | National Herbarium Pretoria

Codonorhiza corymbosa

Common names: blue cabong (Eng.); bloucabong, koringblom, koringblommetjie (Afr.)

Family: Iridaceae

A cheerful bulbous plant with striking blue to purple blooms that does wonderfully when planted in containers on a sunny patio and helps attract an interesting...

07 / 01 / 2013 | Sarah-Leigh Hutchinson | Kirstenbosch NBG

Senegalia mellifera subsp. detinens

Common names: black thorn (Eng.); swarthaak, blouhaak, hakiesdoring (Afr.); monga (Tswana); mongangatau (Northern Sotho); munembedzi (Tshivenda); monkana (Siswati)

Family: Fabaceae

This is a thorny shrub or small tree with sweetly scented flowers and with hard, attractive wood....

14 / 01 / 2013 | F Nonyane | National Herbarium Pretoria

Leucospermum lineare

Common names: needle-leaf pincushion, narrow-leaf pincushion, tangerine pincushion, assegaaibos pincushion (Eng.); smalblaarspeldekussing, luisiesbos (Afr.)

Family: Proteaceae

Leucospermum lineare is a medium-sized shrub well suited to a larger, informal garden. The yellow sprawling form can also be planted in pots....

14 / 01 / 2013 | Louise Nurrish | Kirstenbosch NBG

Berkeya barbata

Common names: coast thistle (Eng.); kus-dissel (Afr.)

Family: Asteraceae

A beauty to admire but painful to touch: handle with care. These sunflower-like daisies often make very attractive displays, but the thorns on the leaves,...

21 / 01 / 2013 | Marinda Koekemoer | National Herbarium Pretoria

Satyrium princeps

Common names: red satyr orchid (Eng.); rooitrewwa (Afr.)

Family: Orchidaceae

Satyrium princeps is a handsome but threatened terrestrial orchid from coastal sands in the southern part of the Western and Eastern Cape. Its long-lasting...

21 / 01 / 2013 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG

Conophytum ficiforme

Common names: button plants (Eng.); knopies (Afr.)

Family: Aizoaceae

Conophytums, these peculiar gems with their highly reduced leaves and exposed surfaces, and with flowers resembling miniature shaving brushes, have fascinated...

28 / 01 / 2013 | Shireen Harris | Karoo Desert NBG

Portulacaria armiana

Common names: Whipstick-porkbush, large-leafed spekboom (Eng.); grootblaar-spekboom, sweepstok spekboom (Afr.)

Family: Portulacaceae

Portulacaria armiana is a large succulent-leafed shrub bearing grey-green leaves and long perennial whipstick-like branches with sprays of soft white flowers....

28 / 01 / 2013 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Englerophytum natalense

Common names: Natal or silverleaf milkplum (Eng.); Natalmelkpruim (Afr.); umThongwane (isiZulu, isiXhosa); ithunga, umThungwane (isiXhosa); umTjongane (isiSwati)

Family: Sapotaceae

An attractive garden plant, a tree with edible fruit and white-to-cream flowers....

04 / 02 / 2013 | F Nonyane | National Herbarium Pretoria

Erica verticillata

Common names: whorled heath, marsh heath

Family: Ericaceae

How could a plant as hardy and strikingly beautiful as Erica verticillata have been allowed to reach the precipice of extinction? Fortunately the story...

04 / 02 / 2013 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG

Berula repanda

Common names: Water parsnip

Family: Apiaceae

Berula repanda is a luxuriantly foliaged plant, ideal for a garden pond or wet patch, and it is in full flower now....

11 / 02 / 2013 | B Busch | Compton Herbarium

Pelargonium pseudoglutinosum

Family: Geraniaceae

This is a fairly large, attractive pelargonium, which flowers throughout the year....

11 / 02 / 2013 | Trevor Adams | Kirstenbosch NBG

Erica quadrangularis

Common names: baby heath, square heath

Family: Ericaceae

Erica quadrangularis is an easy-to-grow, graceful shrub, which turns white or pink during late winter, spring to early summer.when it gets covered in...

18 / 02 / 2013 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Syncarpha recurvata

Fresh everlasting flowerhead. Image G.A. Verboom

Common names: None recorded.

Family: Asteraceae

Syncarpha recurvata is a small, shrubby daisy with pretty pink flowerheads and attractive silvery foliage. This low shrub is endemic to a small area...

18 / 02 / 2013 | Nicola Bergh | Compton Herbarium

Metarungia longistrobus

Common names: sunbird bush (Eng.); sonbekkiebos (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

Metarungia longistrobus is an unusual, attractive evergreen shrub for the shade garden, with long orange-brown flowers in candle-shaped inflorescences...

25 / 02 / 2013 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Stayneria neilii

Common names: white-flowered mesemb (Eng.); witblomvygie (Afr.)

Family: Aizoaceae

Scarce in cultivation, this attractive water-wise succulent shrub is not well known in horticulture but is ideal for arid gardens in the winter-rainfall...

25 / 02 / 2013 | Shireen Harris | Karoo Desert NBG

Hermas villosa

Common names: Tinderleaf (Eng.); tontelblaar (Afr.)

Family: Apiaceae

The creamy green flowers of this fynbos shrublet usually light up the veld from late summer to late autumn. However its allure doesn't stop there....

04 / 03 / 2013 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG

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