Plants of the Week

Browse through all previous entries of Plants Of The Week

  • Sort by date added
  • Sort Alphabetically
Go to Plants of the Week Advanced Search
E.g., 13/02/2025
E.g., 13/02/2025

Jensenobotrya lossowiana

Jensenobotrya lossowiana
Common names: druiwetrosvygie
Family: Aizoaceae

This perhaps the most peculiar of all the mesembs, found only in a small isolated area in the Namib desert; yet it is easy to propagate....

12 / 05 / 2008 | | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Jatropha zeyheri

Jatropha zeyheri (Brenden Pienaar)
Common names: verfbol (Afr.); sefapabadia (Sesotho); xidomeja (Xitsonga); mafuredonga (Tshivenda); ugodide (isiZulu)
Family: Euphorbiaceae

A common medicinal plant used in women’s health care in many rural communities in southern Africa....

04 / 07 / 2016 | Lerato Hoveka | National Herbarium Pretoria
Read More

Jasminum multipartitum

Jasminum multipartitum
Common names: starry wild jasmine (Eng.); sterretjies-jasmyn (Afr.); imfohlafohlane (Zulu)
Family: Oleaceae

This is a very rewarding plant with sweetly scented, white, waxy flowers displayed against glossy, dark green foliage. Consider it a 'must-have'...

23 / 02 / 2004 | Cherise Viljoen | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Jasminum angulare

Jasminum angulare
Common names: wild jasmine (Eng.); wildejasmyn (Afr.); umalalala (Zulu)
Family: Oleaceae

An evergreen creeper or rambling shrub, with fragrant white flowers in summer; a good garden plant or pot plant for full sun to light shade....

23 / 01 / 2017 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Jamesbrittenia microphylla

Jamesbrittenia microphylla
Common names: purple phlox
Family: Scrophulariaceae

A striking plant with purple, star-like flowers, that are mostly present throughout out the year....

08 / 01 / 2018 | Phakamani Xaba | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Jamesbrittenia kraussiana

Jamesbrittenia kraussiana
Common names: kerriebos (Afr); usikisiki lwehlathi (Zul.)
Family: Scrophulariaceae

An attractive herbaceous perennial with lush green foliage and white flowers occurring throughout the year, suitable for planting in full sun in small...

15 / 04 / 2019 | Mpendulo Gabayi | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Jamesbrittenia grandiflora

Jamesbrittenia grandiflora
Common names: Wild phlox (= Sutera grandiflora)
Family: Scrophulariaceae

Many people want to know what this stunning plant is when they first see it....

22 / 07 / 2002 | Mhlonishwa D Dlamini | Walter Sisulu NBG
Read More

Jamesbrittenia breviflora

In flower
Common names: There are no recorded common names for this species; other Jamesbrittenia species are sometimes known as verfblommetjies (little paint-flowers).
Family: Scrophulariaceae

Jamesbrittenia breviflora grows wild in the Drakensberg and has beautiful reddish-purple flowers with a bright lemon-yellow centre....

08 / 10 / 2007 | Nicola Bergh | Compton Herbarium
Read More

Jamesbrittenia bergae

Jamesbrittenia bergae flowers
Common names: crimson phlox
Family: Scrophulariaceae

This fairly unknown unique, crimson-flowered, herbaceous perennial from the foxglove family rivals many pelargoniums for its intense luminous colour and...

22 / 02 / 2010 | Adam Harrower | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Ixianthes retzioides

Ixianthes retzioides
Common names: river bells (Eng.); rivierklokkies (Afr.)
Family: Stilbaceae

This is a beautiful plant, seldom seen. It is a rare endemic, confined to a few streams of the winter-rainfall Western Cape. It has striking, yellow, bell-shaped...

06 / 12 / 2004 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Ixia viridiflora

Ixia viridiflora
Common names: green ixia (Eng.); groenkalossie (Afr.)
Family: Iridaceae

Ixia viridiflora is one of the most striking and unusual of our winter-rainfall bulbous plants and very few plants can beat it for sheer brilliance of...

28 / 10 / 2002 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Ixia vinacea

Ixia vinacea
Common names: purple Tulbagh ixia (Eng.); tulbagh-perskalossie (Afr.)
Family: Iridaceae

Ixia vinacea is a beautiful, critically endangered, winter-growing geophyte from the Western Cape....

08 / 03 / 2021 | Aarifah Jakoet | Compton Herbarium
Read More

Ixia mostertii

Flowers of Ixia mostertii
Common names: there are no recorded common names for this plant. It is one of the extremely rare species in the genus Ixia and has not been well collected.
Family: Iridaceae

Rare and threatened species are always attractive to most people interested in plants. Ixia mostertii is a strikingly beautiful plant that is...

21 / 08 / 2006 | Ismail Ebrahim | CREW
Read More

Isolepis

Isolepsis antartica. Photo: C Stirton
Common names: Sedges (Eng); madzhesi (Tshivenda)
Family: Cyperaceae

The genus Isolepis R.Br. comprises about 76 species. Members in the genus Isolepis mostly occur in the temperate regions of the southern...

15 / 09 / 2014 | Aluwani Tshiila | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium
Read More

Iridaceae

Romulea sabulosa
Common names: Iris
Family: Iridaceae

This is a large family of deciduous or evergreen perennials, many with brightly coloured flowers, which is well represented in South Africa....

17 / 05 / 2004 | John Manning | Compton Herbarium
Read More

Ipomoea pes-caprae subsp. brasiliensis

Ipomoea pes-caprae subsp. brasiliensis (Tony Rebelo, iSpot)
Common names: beach morning glory, goat’s foot (Eng.); strandpatat (Afr.)
Family: Convolvulaceae

Beach morning glory is a perennial, trailing vine that forms dense mats on beaches and sand dunes. Its bright green, glossy leaves and showy pink flowers,...

06 / 03 / 2017 | Lerato Hoveka | National Herbarium Pretoria
Read More

Ipomoea oenotheroides

Ipomoea oenotheroides
Common names: Christmas flower (Eng.); krismisblom (Afr.)
Family: Convolvulaceae

An eye-catching, drought-resistant shrublet with bright pink ‘morning glory’ flowers in summer and silvery stems sprouting from inedible tuberous...

11 / 02 / 2019 | Lufuno Nenungwi | Free State NBG
Read More

Ipomoea oblongata

Ipomoea oblongata
Common names: wild morning glory, Boqo morning glory (Eng); krismisblom (Afr); ubhoqo (isiZulu); mothokgo (Sesotho)
Family: Convolvulaceae

An exquisite creeper belonging to the morning glory family, with long stems stretched out flat on the ground, and bright, dark mauve, eye-catching flowers...

27 / 03 / 2023 | Lufuno Nenungwi | Free State NBG
Read More

Ipomoea cairica var. cairica

Ipomoea cairica
Common names: coast morning glory, five-fingered morning glory, Cairo morning glory, Messina creeper, mile-a-minute, (Eng.); ihlambe, ijalamu, intana, umaholwana (i
Family: Convolvulaceae

The coast morning glory, with its big, purple, trumpet-shaped flowers with a dark eye in the centre, makes it close to impossible to pass it by, and it...

25 / 02 / 2019 | Sibahle Gumede | Kwelera NBG
Read More

Ipomoea albivenia

Ipomoea albivenia
Common names: wild cotton (E), wildekatoen (A), imibuzana / umangfongo (Z)
Family: Convolvulaceae

Ipomoea albivenia is a vigorous perennial deciduous climber up to 10 m long, belonging to the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae)....

22 / 01 / 2001 | Sharon Turner | Walter Sisulu NBG
Read More