Plants of the Week

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E.g., 22/12/2024
E.g., 22/12/2024

Gladiolus venustus

Gladiolus venustus
Common names: bright bonnet, purple kalkoentjie (Eng.); kalkoentjie, perskalkoentjie, haasblom, perdelelie, bontpatryspypie (Afr.)
Family: Iridaceae

Gladiolus venustus is a showy species, with fragrant, purple or pink and yellow flowers in spring, best suited for the arid regions of the winter-rainfall...

01 / 02 / 2021 | Shireen Harris | Karoo Desert NBG
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Gladiolus virgatus

Gladiolus virgatus (I. Ebrahim)
Common names: Helderberg Painted Lady
Family: Iridaceae

Lovers of the outdoors visiting Nature Reserves in the Boland mountains of the Western Cape, will often be enthralled by cheerful displays of pretty pink...

22 / 01 / 2018 | Gigi Laidler | CREW
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Gloriosa superba

Gloriosa superba in flower
Common names: flame lily, climbing lily, Turk’s cap, superb lily, glory lily, gloriosa lily (Eng.); vlamlelie, boslelie, geelboslelie, rooiboslelie (Afr.); ihlamv
Family: Colchicaceae

Gloriosa superba is a striking climber with unusual and beautiful, red and yellow, flame-like flowers in summer; it is suitable for shade or sun, and is...

15 / 06 / 2015 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Glottiphyllum carnosum

Glottiphyllum carnosum
Common names: fleshy tongue-leaf mesemb, fleshy tonguefig (Eng.); tongblaarvygie (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

Occurring in a biome such as Succulent Karoo with very limited rainfall, the hardy yet fragile Glottiphyllum carnosum is adapted to withstand it all, with...

19 / 02 / 2024 | Yandisa Ndzeku | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Glottiphyllum regium

Glottiphyllum regium flower
Common names: tongue-leaved mesemb (Eng.); tongblaarvygie, skilpadkos (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

Glottiphyllum regium is a hardy, clump-forming succulent that produces masses of showy, large, yellow flowers from mid-winter until early summer....

22 / 03 / 2010 | Ian Oliver | Karoo Desert NBG
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Gnidia denudata

Inflorescence
Common names: furry saffron bush (Eng.); saffraan (Afr.)
Family: Thymelaeaceae

Gnidia denudata is an attractive bushy shrub with long hairs that gives an effect of silver-like foliage. Like any other Gnidia species, it has terminal...

02 / 02 / 2015 | Mpendulo Gabayi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gnidia kraussiana

See Lasiosiphon kraussianus...

26 / 01 / 2022 | | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gnidia pinifolia

Gnidia pinifolia
Common names: pine-leaved saffron-bush, needle capesaffron (Eng.), aandbossie, juffertjie-roer-by-die-nag (Afr.).
Family: Thymelaeaceae

Gnidia pinifolia has showy, conspicuous, white blooms, all-year round, that will infuse your garden with a night scent....

07 / 02 / 2022 | Nomfusi Ntsobi | CREW
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Gnidia squarrosa

Gnidia squarrosa
Common names: saffron bush (Eng.); aandbossie, juffertjie-roer-by-die nag (Afr.)
Family: Thymelaeaceae

Gnidia squarrosa has attractive, multicoloured winter-spring flowers that will fill your garden with perfume in the evenings....

02 / 08 / 2004 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gnidia triplinervis

See Lasiosiphon triplinervis...

01 / 01 / 2006 | | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gomphocarpus cancellatus

Flowerheads of G. cancellatus
Common names: wild cotton (Eng.); bergmelkbos, bergtontelbos, dermhout, gansiesbos, katoenbos, melkbos, regopmelkbos (Afr.)
Family: Apocynaceae

Gomphocarpus cancellatus, wild cotton, is an elegant bush, which in the sterile state resembles a protea bush. The flowers are accumulated in dense...

14 / 04 / 2008 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Gomphocarpus fruticosus

Fruit and leaves
Common names: milkweed, wild cotton (Eng.); gansie, melkbos (Afr.); Lebegane (Sotho); Umsinga-lwesalukazi (Zulu)
Family: Apocynaceae

Gomphocarpus fruticosus is a herbaceous, perennial, spindly shrub, often with watery or milky sap. It has ovoid fruits (follicles) of a clear, pale green...

28 / 11 / 2005 | Alec Naidoo | Pretoria NBG
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Gomphocarpus physocarpus

Gomphocarpus physocarpus fruits
Common names: balloon milkweed, balloon wild cotton, hairy balls, bindweed (Eng.); balmelkbossie, balbossie, wilde kapok (Afr.); umbababa, umbemiso, umangwazane, um
Family: Apocynaceae

Gomphocarpus physocarpus has striking yellowish, ball-like fruits and is an excellent butterfly plant, but it is poisonous if ingested; so keep it...

04 / 01 / 2010 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gomphostigma virgatum

Gomphostigma virgatum overhanging water
Common names: river star, otter bush, besembossie
Family: Scrophulariaceae

Gomphostigma virgatum is a beautiful, evergreen, perennial shrub that can grow up to 2,6m high....

03 / 12 / 2001 | Thompson T Mutshinyalo | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Gonialoe genus

Gonialoe variegata. Photo J.C. Kruger
Common names: partridge aloes, partridge-breasted aloes, tiger aloes, variegated aloes (Eng.); bontaalwyne, bontbees, kanniedood aalwyne (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

The uniquely mottled and folded, three-ranked leaves of these miniature variegated aloes make them very popular for container gardening or as a point of...

17 / 10 / 2022 | Ronell R. Klopper | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Gonialoe variegata

Gonialoe variegata
Common names: partridge breast aloe (Eng.); kanniedood, bontalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

This plant was previously called Aloe variegata. Gonialoe variegata is one of the best known, and most distinctive of the South African aloes. The characteristic...

30 / 06 / 2008 | Werner Voigt | Harold Porter NBG
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Gonioma kamassi

Gonioma kamassi (Andrea Durrheim)
Common names: kamassi, Knysna boxwood (Eng.); kamassiehout (Afr.); igala-gala (isiXhosa)
Family: Apocynaceae

A small, unusual and rewarding, rounded, evergreen shrub with fragrant white or pale yellow flowers that are produced in small clusters at the ends of...

27 / 10 / 2014 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gorteria diffusa

Gorteria diffusa
Common names: beetle daisy (Eng.); katoog (Afr.)
Family: Asteraceae

Commonly known as the beetle daisy, Gorteria diffusa is characterised by intricate dotted patterns on the ray florets, placed around the central disk of...

12 / 08 / 2024 | Khanya Ntondini | Compton Herbarium
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Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum

Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum (Ernst Schmidt)
Common names: wild cotton (Eng.); wildekatoen (Afr.); kotini (Xho.); litjinda (Swa.); ugampokwe, umgawuma (Zul.)
Family: Malvaceae

The wild cotton plant, Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum, is often only noticed when in fruit or when bearings its hibiscus-like flowers....

13 / 10 / 2014 | Mandisa Kondlo | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Graderia scabra

Graderia scabra
Common names: wild penstemon, pink ground-bells (Eng.); uvelabahleke (Xho.), impundu, isimonyo, ugweja, umphuphutho (Zul.)
Family: Orobanchaceae

The attractive pink flowers of Graderia scabra easily catch the eye, especially after veld fires. They belong to a small, semi-herbaceous, partly parasitic...

06 / 04 / 2020 | Tumelo Mofokeng | Pretoria NBG
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