Plants of the Week

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E.g., 12/10/2024

Aloe vanbalenii

Aloe vanbalenii
Common names: van balen's aloe, crawling octopus (Eng.); van-balen-se-aalwyn (Afr.); icenalamatshe, icenandhlovu (isiZulu); lihala (siSwati)
Family: Asphodelaceae

This is one of the most beautiful and distinctive aloes, with its long, twisted and recurved leaves resembling an octopus....

22 / 05 / 2017 | Anelisiwe Nocwanya | Karoo Desert NBG
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Aloe variegata

This plant is now called Gonialoe variegata....

30 / 06 / 2008 | | Karoo Desert NBG
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Aloe varimaculata

Aloe varimaculata
Common names: Humpata aloe (Eng.); Humpata-aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

A small shrubby aloe with rosettes of beautifully mottled, recurved leaves with fairly large, sharply pointed teeth, and orange-reddish flowers with yellowish...

28 / 08 / 2017 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe verecunda

Aloe verecunda
Common names: rand grass aloe, witwatersrand grass aloe (Eng.); randgrasaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe verecunda, with its striking orange-red flowers and grasslike leaves, is an attractive deciduous grassland aloe....

24 / 12 / 2001 | Sharon Turner | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Aloe zebrina

Aloe zebrina plant
Common names: zebra leaf aloe, spotted aloe (Eng.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Imagine creating a breathtaking desertscape of rocks and pebbles and incorporating patches of Aloe zebrina in your illusion. This aloe is a sure must...

24 / 01 / 2011 | Hildegard Witbooi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloiampelos

Aloiampelos ciliaris in a garden (AW Klopper)
Common names: climbing aloes, rambling aloes, scrambling aloes (Eng.); rankaalwyne (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Rambling aloes, with their usually slender stems and thin, narrow, widely spaced leaves, form much-branched, robust, leaning to creeping shrubs. They can...

09 / 10 / 2017 | Ronell R. Klopper | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Aloiampelos ciliaris var. ciliaris

Aloiampelos ciliaris var.ciliaris
Common names: climbing aloe (Eng.); rank-aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloiampelos ciliaris var. ciliaris is a small, handsome, climbing aloe and one of the easiest to cultivate. It was previously called Aloe ciliaris...

15 / 09 / 2003 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloiampelos commixta

Aloiampelos commixta
Common names: Peninsula rambling aloe
Family: Asphodelaceae

Offering a rich variety of growth forms, making excellent accent plants, suited to almost any climate and producing a flowering display of vibrant colours...

05 / 04 / 2010 | Julia Dabush | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloiampelos juddii

Aloiampelos juddii
Common names: Koudeberg aloe (Eng.); Baardskeerdersbosvuurpylaalwyn, (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloiampelos juddii is a welcome addition to the Cape flora and in particular the assemblage of Fynbos aloes that are found in the mountainous and coastal...

07 / 11 / 2016 | Werner Voigt | Karoo Desert NBG
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Aloiampelos tenuior

Aloiampelos tenuior var. rubriflora, Kirstenbosch NBG
Common names: fence aloe, slender aloe (Eng.); heiningaalwyn (Afr.); ikhalana, ikalene, intelezi, impapane, umjinqa, umkrakrane (isiXhosa); inhlaba, inhlaba empofu
Family: Asphodelaceae

This rambling aloe forms large clumps topped with masses of delicate, yellow or red flowerheads in summer, and is a useful and undemanding landscape plant....

22 / 02 / 2016 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloidendron

Forest of Aloidendron dichotomum near Nieuwoudtville
Common names: tree aloes (Eng.); boomaalwyne (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Tree aloes, with their striking, bold and often symmetrical architecture and drought tolerance, are sought after by gardeners and make perfect focus plants...

01 / 08 / 2016 | Ronell R. Klopper | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Aloidendron barberae

Aloidendron barberae
Common names: tree aloe (Eng.); boomaalwyn, mikaalwyn (Afr.); ikhala (Xhosa); umgxwala, indlabendlazi, impondonndo, inkalane-enkulu (Zulu)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloidendron barberae is a striking sculptural tree aloe bearing a rounded, neat crown.  It was previously known as Aloe barberae.  It forms an...

30 / 06 / 2003 | Giles Mbambezeli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloidendron dichotomum

Aloidendron dichotomum
Common names: quiver tree (Eng.); kokerboom (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

The quiver tree or Aloidendron dichotomum is probably the best known aloe found in South Africa and Namibia. Visitors to the Western Cape can see a ...

12 / 08 / 2002 | Werner Voigt | Karoo Desert NBG
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Aloidendron pillansii

Stems leaves and old inflorescences
Common names: giant quiver tree, bastard quiver tree (Eng.); reuse kokerboom, baster-kokerboom (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloidendron pillansii is arguably the scarcest of all tree aloes in southern Africa.  It was previously called Aloe pillansii, however a new genus...

24 / 02 / 2014 | Werner Voigt | Karoo Desert NBG
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Aloidendron ramosissimum

Bush in flower
Common names: maiden's quiver tree (Eng.); nooienskokerboom (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

This aloe is without a doubt the most profusely branched of all aloes. Like its closest relative, Aloidendron dichotomum or quiver tree, it has a very...

19 / 04 / 2004 | Werner Voigt | Karoo Desert NBG
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Aloidendron tongaense

Flowers
Common names: Tonga tree aloe (Eng.); Tonga boomaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

A medium-sized tree-aloe endemic to the coastal forests in northern Zululand and southern Mozambique. It has showy, curved, orange flowers, and grows well...

05 / 01 / 2015 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Alsophila dregei

Alsophila dregei
Common names: grassland tree fern, common tree fern, (Eng.); grasveldboomvaring, gewone boomvaring, (Afr.); isihihi (Xho.); isikhomakhoma, umphanga (Zul.)
Family: Cyatheaceae

A handsome form plant, with a head of dark green fronds atop a stout trunk, for full sun or light shade. This plant is also known as Cyathea dregei....

19 / 11 / 2018 | Nonhlanhla Masinga | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Amaryllidaceae

Amaryllis belladonna: Photo C Paterson-Jones
Common names: amaryllis or daffodil family
Family: Amaryllidaceae

Consisting mostly of bulbous plants, this family occurs naturally throughout the tropics and warm temperate regions of the world. Many species have extravagantly...

10 / 05 / 2004 | D Snijman | Compton Herbarium
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Amaryllis belladonna

Amaryllis belladonna
Common names: belladonna lily, March lily, naked lady (Eng.); Maartblom, Maartlelie, belladonnalelie (Afr.)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

The flowering stems of this bulb emerging from the bare ground is a sign that summer is coming to an end in the Cape....

12 / 03 / 2001 | Trevor Adams | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Ammocharis baumii

Ammocharis baumii as a container subject. (Photo Graham Duncan)
Common names: Baum’s ammocharis
Family: Amaryllidaceae

Ammocharis baumii is a dwarf bulbous plant, with attractive, but fleeting, pink, sweetly-scented flowers, with an extremely long perianth tube. It is easily...

30 / 03 / 2020 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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