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., 15/01/2025
E.g., 15/01/2025

Vachellia sieberiana var. woodii

Vachellia sieberiana var.woodii
Common names: paperbark thorn (Eng.); papierbasdoring (Afr.); Mphoka (North Sotho); umNganduzi (Siswati); Mokha, Morumosetlha (Tswana); Musaunga (Venda); umKhamba (
Family: Fabaceae

Pure stands of these beautifully shaped trees with their perfectly flattened crowns are quite stunning. Where else but in Africa would you encounter such...

03 / 11 / 2003 | Pitta Joffe | Pretoria NBG
Read More

Sclerocarya birrea

Fruits and leaves
Common names: marula (Eng.); morula (Northern Sotho); mufula (Tshivenda); ukanyi (Tsonga)
Family: Anacardiaceae

The edible fruits and the multiple uses associated with almost all parts of the marula, make it one of southern Africa's most valued trees....

27 / 10 / 2003 | Thompson T Mutshinyalo | Pretoria NBG
Read More

Leucospermum bolusii

Leucospermum bolusii
Common names: Gordon's Bay pincushion (Eng.); witluisiesbos (Afr.)
Family: Proteaceae

The Gordon's Bay pincushion is quite unusual for a pincushion in that its flowers are a creamy white colour where they are normally a striking orange...

27 / 10 / 2003 | Christien Malan | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Lachenalia liliflora

Close- up of flowers
Common names: Cape hyacinth (Eng.); viooltjie (Afr.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

Sadly, Lachenalia liliflora,  an indigenous hyacinth with strikingly beautiful creamy-white flowers tipped with purple, is on the critically endangered...

20 / 10 / 2003 | Adam Harrower | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Cordia caffra

Cordia fruits
Common names: septee saucer-berry (Eng.); septeeboom (Afr.); mududa (V)
Family: Boraginaceae

Why this breathtaking tree is so rarely used in the horticultural and landscape trade is a mystery. It possesses almost all the qualities of the ideal...

20 / 10 / 2003 | Nick Klapwijk | Pretoria NBG
Read More

Serruria trilopha

Serruria trilopha
Common names: trident spiderhead, sand spiderhead, snake-stem spiderhead, three-crested spiderhead (Eng.); slangspinnekopbos (Afr.)
Family: Proteaceae

This critically endangered member of the protea family makes an unusual addition to sandy coastal gardens....

13 / 10 / 2003 | Trevor Adams | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Heteromorpha arborescens

Heteromorpha arborescens
Common names: parsley tree (Eng.); wildepietersielie, pietersieliebos (Afr.), umbangadlala (Zul.), umbangadlala, umbangandlatho, umbangeza, iyeza-lempambano (Xho.)
Family: Apiaceae

This small to medium-sized, deciduous tree or straggly shrub is suitable for a small, low-maintenance garden. The bark often helps to distinguish it from...

13 / 10 / 2003 | Shireen Harris | Free State NBG
Read More

Serruria furcellata

Serruria furcellata
Common names: Kraaifontein spiderhead (Eng.)
Family: Proteaceae

This critically endangered spiderhead is being squeezed from its home by urbanization near greater Cape Town....

06 / 10 / 2003 | Trevor Adams | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Nerine laticoma

Nerine laticoma
Common names: vleilelie, gifbol, jeukui, seeroogblom (Afr.)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

This is a summer-growing Nerine, one of a genus of beautiful geophytes endemic to southern Africa....

06 / 10 / 2003 | Shireen Harris | Free State NBG
Read More

Rhigozum obovatum

Rhigozum obovatum flower
Common names: Karoo rhigozum, Karoo gold, yellow pomegranate (Eng.); geelberggranaat, berggranaat (Afr.)
Family: Bignoniaceae

Rhigozum obovatum is an ideal shrub or small tree to bring life to gardens in dry areas where water is in short supply and garden maintenance is low. Although...

29 / 09 / 2003 | Shireen Harris | Free State NBG
Read More

Polygala myrtifolia

Polygala myrtifolia
Common names: september bush (Eng.); septemberbossie, augustusbossie, blouertjie, langelede (Afr.); ulopesi, ulapesi, umabalabala (Xho.); uchwasha (Zul.)
Family: Polygalaceae

Polygala myrtifolia is a common, widespread pioneer shrub with pretty mauve flowers on and off throughout the year with a peak in spring, hence the names...

29 / 09 / 2003 | Liesl Van der Walt | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Searsia ciliata

Image of S. ciliata leaves
Common names: sour karee (Eng.); suurkaree (Afr.)
Family: Anacardiaceae

Searsia ciliata is one of the more modest members of this popular group of garden plants which hybridize easily. This species, like several others in the...

22 / 09 / 2003 | Shireen Harris | Free State NBG
Read More

Coleonema album

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
Read More

Nymphoides thunbergiana

Nymphoides thunbergiana
Common names: floating hearts (Eng.), geelwaterlelie (Afr.), marombodane (Venda)
Family: Menyanthaceae

This is a pretty, fast-growing, perennial water plant with flat, rounded, floating leaves, and delicate white and yellow flowers in summer. It makes a...

15 / 09 / 2003 | Alice Aubrey | Walter Sisulu NBG
Read More

Nymphoides indica

Nymphoides thunbergiana

This species has been split into Nymphoides brevipedicellata and Nymphoides thunbergiana....

15 / 09 / 2003 | | Walter Sisulu NBG
Read More

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
Read More

Kniphofia leucocephala

Kniphofia leucocephala
Family: Asphodelaceae

This delicate white wetland poker is so rare that it is now known from only one locality in KwaZulu-Natal, and does not even have a common name. Unless...

08 / 09 / 2003 | Isabel Johnson | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
Read More

Brabejum stellatifolium

Flowers of the wild almond
Common names: bitteramandel, wild almond, wilde-amandel, ghoeboontjie, ghoekoffie
Family: Proteaceae

This tree is famous in South Africa for being used to make Van Riebeeck's Hedge, the first formal boundary marker between the new Cape colony and the...

08 / 09 / 2003 | Christien Malan | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Anemone knowltonia

 Unusual flowers resembling green buttercups
Common names: blistering leaves (Eng.); brandblare, katjiedrieblaar (Afr.)
Family: Ranunculaceae

This is a very handsome plant with unusual flowers resembling green buttercups, that does well in shady situations....

01 / 09 / 2003 | Cherise Viljoen | Kirstenbosch NBG
Read More

Gerbera aurantiaca

Gerbera aurantiaca
Common names: Hilton daisy
Family: Asteraceae

The Hilton daisy is a strikingly beautiful grassland plant that occurs around Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. The species is under considerable threat...

01 / 09 / 2003 | Isabel Johnson | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
Read More