Plants of the Week

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E.g., 12/02/2025
E.g., 12/02/2025

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Jordaaniella anemoniflora and J.dubia

Jordaaniella anemoniflora
Common names: helder kruipvygie, matvygie (Afr.) Jordaaniella anemoniflora (L.Bolus) Van Jaarsv. [ = Cephalophyllum anemoniflorum (L.Bolus) N.E.Br. (Van Jaarsveld 2
Family: Mesembryanthemaceae

These two very attractive mesembs, one of which is widespread and the other extinct in its natural habitat, can be grown in sunny coastal gardens as they...

16 / 08 / 2004 | Pascale Chesselet | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Jordaaniella cuprea

Jordaaniella cuprea
Common names: koper-rankvygie (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

A creeping succulent, with large bright attractive orange daisy-like flowers, this plant is ideal for water-wise gardens....

11 / 04 / 2011 | Shireen Harris | Karoo Desert NBG
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Jubaeopsis caffra

Jubaeopsis caffra tree
Common names: Pondo coconut, Pondo palm (Eng.); Pondopalm (Afr.); ikomba (isiXhosa) National Tree List no. 27 in South Africa.
Family: Arecaceae

A South African palm whose nearest living relative grows in Chile (South America), sounds like fiction, but it is not. Here it is. ...

04 / 07 / 2011 | Hugh Glen | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Juncus kraussii

Juncus kraussii
Common names: dune slack rush, matting rush (Eng.); Incema (Zulu)
Family: Juncaceae

The great physical strength and versatility of this rush make it an asset in wetlands. Juncus kraussii prevents erosion and also make a perfect fibre for...

27 / 02 / 2006 | M Goge | Working For Wetlands
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Justicia aconitiflora

Justicia aconitiflora, flowers. (Alice Notten)
Common names: yellow pistolbush, lemon pistolbush (Eng.); geelpistoolbos, lemoenpistoolbos (Afr.)
Family: Acanthaceae

A beautiful shrub with fresh green foliage and showy pale yellow flowers in autumn, suitable for sun, semi-shade or shade. This species was for many years...

09 / 07 / 2019 | Nomama Mei | Kirstenbosch NBG
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