Plants of the Week

Clivia mirabilis

Common names: miracle clivia

Family: Amaryllidaceae

The discovery in the Nieuwoudtville area of the Northern Cape of a most unusual new Clivia species, Clivia mirabilis, caused much excitement in the botanical...

20 / 05 / 2002 | Nicky Malcolm | Kirstenbosch NBG

Clivia nobilis

Common names: Eastern Cape clivia, Eastern Cape bush lily (Eng.); boslelie (Afr.); umayime (isiXhosa & isiZulu)

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Clivia nobilis was the first species of Clivia to be described in 1828. It was a popular plant in England until the more spectacular Clivia miniata appeared...

02 / 01 / 2006 | John Winter | Kirstenbosch NBG

Clivia robusta

Common names: swamp bush lily, swamp clivia

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Clivia robusta is probably one of the tallest members of the genus as it can grow to a height of 1.6 m in ideal conditions. It is a strong grower and...

02 / 07 / 2007 | John Winter | Kirstenbosch NBG

Clutia pulchella

Common names: common lightning bush, lightning bush, warty-fruited lightning bush (Eng); gewone bliksembos, oumeisieknie, weerligbos, vratjievrug-bliksembos (Afr);

Family: Peraceae

Clutia pulchella is easily distinguishable by its striking 'ladder-like', alternating arrangement of leaves, often with red leaves among the green....

22 / 04 / 2024 | Lungelo L. Sikhakhane | Free State NBG

Coccinia rehmannii

Common names: wild cucumber (Eng.); wilde komkommer (Afr.); kgaba, kubjana, mogakangwaga, oro, otjinaga, mmadigônyane (Tsw.); uselwa-lwenyoka (Zul.)

Family: Cucurbitaceae

Coccinia rehmannii is a perennial creeper or climber arising from a large tuberous rootstock, with conspicuous, many-seeded, globose fruits....

16 / 03 / 2020 | Khululwa Mfondini | National Herbarium Pretoria

Coddia rudis

Common names: small bone apple (Eng.); kleinbeenappel (Afr.); umDondwane (Zulu); siKhwakhwane (Siswati); tshinapanapana (Venda)

Family: Rubiaceae

Coddia rudis is usually a short, aromatic, evergreen, dense, multi-stemmed and fairly fast growing shrub....

31 / 12 / 2011 | K w Sepheka | National Herbarium Pretoria

Codon royenii

Common names: honey bush (Eng.); heuningbos, suikerkelk (Afr.)

Family: Boraginaceae

...

20 / 02 / 2006 | Elizabeth Retief | 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

Cola greenwayi

Common names: hairy cola (Eng.); harige kola (Afr.); iNthandoti (Zulu)

Family: Malvaceae

Cola greenwayi is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, up to 25m tall with simple, alternate leaves that have a distinct hairy swelling below the blade...

20 / 01 / 2014 | Nonkululo Phephu | National Herbarium Pretoria

Colchicum

Common names: cup and a saucer, men-in-a-boat (Eng.); bobbejaanskoen (Afr.)

Family: Colchicaceae

Members of the genus Colchicum are low, short-stemmed to stemless perennials with leaves spreading on the ground. The most noticeable characteristic of...

16 / 01 / 2006 | E T Rampho | National Herbarium Pretoria

Coleonema album

Common names: Cape May, white confetti bush (Eng.), aasbossie, klipboegoe (Afr.)

Family: Rutaceae

An aromatic evergreen shrub with masses of white flowers in winter and spring....

22 / 09 / 2003 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Coleonema aspalathoides

Common names: confetti bush

Family: Rutaceae

Coleonema aspalathoides forms a dense upright shrub, 0.5 - 1 m tall. Bright pink, star-shaped flowers, 8-10 mm in diameter, are borne singly but in profusion...

23 / 07 / 2001 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Coleonema calycinum

Common names: confetti bush, broom buchu (Eng.); boegoe (Afr.)

Family: Rutaceae

...

30 / 07 / 2007 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Coleonema pulchellum

Common names: confetti bush

Family: Rutaceae

An aromatic, evergreen shrub covered with masses of starry pink flowers in winter and spring....

05 / 04 / 2004 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Coleotrype natalensis

Common names: none recorded

Family: Commelinaceae

The genus Coleotrype is characterised by its extremely contracted inflorescences, with each unit being subtended by a relatively large bract, and the petals...

26 / 01 / 2015 | Aluwani Tshiila | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium

Coleus amboinicus

Common names: African thyme, French thyme, country borage, Indian borage, Indian mint, broad-leaf thyme, soup mint (Eng.); Afrika-tiemie, krui-spoorsalie (Afr.)

Family: Lamiaceae

A sprawling perennial with strongly and pleasantly aromatic, fleshy, serrated leaves and mauve, two-lipped flowers in summer and autumn. A useful, easily...

04 / 05 / 2020 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Coleus esculentus

Common names: wild potato, veld potato, African potato, Livingstone potato (Eng.); veldaartappel, wilde-aartappel (Afr.); itapile (Xhosa); tsenza (Shona); mutada (V

Family: Lamiaceae

The wild potato is a pleasant aromatic herb with prolific, beautiful, yellow flowers in winter and spring. It is able to withstand a variety of climatic...

27 / 07 / 2015 | B Busch | National Herbarium Pretoria

Coleus genus

Coleus hadiensis 'Penge' (Photo Alice Notten)

Common names: coleus

Family: Lamiaceae

For many years, the plant we’ve known as coleus, was the popular garden plant with multi-coloured leaves, although its accepted scientific name was...

08 / 06 / 2020 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG