Plants of the Week

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

Cirsium vulgare

Cirsium vulgare
Common names: Scottish thistle, spear thistle (Eng.); skotse dissel (Afr.); hlaba (Sesotho); ntsoa-ntsane (Setswana)
Family: Asteraceae

Cirsium vulgare is mostly regarded as a weed or undesirable plant. However, the plants are very attractive and offer lots of rewards for butterflies and...

08 / 05 / 2017 | Marinda Koekemoer | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Ornithogalum conicum

Ornithogalum conicum (Graham Duncan)
Common names: chincherinchee, pure white star-of-Bethlehem (Eng.); tjienkerintjee, viooltjie (Afr.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

A stunning, early summer-flowering, bulbous plant, with bright white flowers, with prominent yellow centres, in dense heads; a good pot plant, rockery...

08 / 05 / 2017 | Nomama Mei | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Macowania revoluta

Macowania revoluta (Nicola Bergh)
Common names: Amathole macowania
Family: Asteraceae

Macowania revoluta is the particular species to which the defining features of the genus Macowania is formally attached. This easily distinguished shrub...

01 / 05 / 2017 | Vathiswa Zikishe | CREW
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Diastella divaricata subsp. divaricata

Diastella divaricata subsp. divaricata
Common names: Peninsula silkypuff
Family: Proteaceae

A sprawling, creeping, rounded shrub dotted with small, pink inflorescences, that gives the best year-round display in a fynbos garden, and is a champion...

01 / 05 / 2017 | Mashudu Nndanduleni | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Protea lacticolor

Protea lacticolor 
Common names: Hottentot’s Holland sugarbush, hottentot sugarbush, hottentot white sugarbush (Eng.), witsuikerbos, hottentotwitsuikerbos (Afr.)
Family: Proteaceae

A large shrub or small tree from the fynbos, with creamy white or pink flower heads in autumn to winter, that can be used for screening, or as a focal...

24 / 04 / 2017 | Mashudu Nndanduleni | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Crocosmia paniculata

Crocosmia paniculata
Common names: zigzag crocosmia (Eng.); waaierlelie (Afr.); khala-ea-bokone, moloke (Sesotho); undwendwi, umlunge (Zulu)
Family: Iridaceae

Crocosmia paniculata is a robust, deciduous geophyte with sculptural, zig-zag flower spikes and attractive, pleated leaves that make it a strong accent...

24 / 04 / 2017 | John Manning | Compton Herbarium
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Drimia loedolffiae

Drima loedolffiae
Common names: Kei drimia (Eng.); dassiekweek (Afr.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

A small bulb which grows in dense clusters on riverine cliffs in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Easily grown from division and great for hanging baskets...

17 / 04 / 2017 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Platylophus trifoliatus

Platylophus trifoliatus
Common names: white-alder, white-els (Eng.); witels, witelsboom, witte-els, witte-elsboom, witte-elshout (Afr.) Synonyms: Weinmannia trifoliata L.f.; Trimerisma tr
Family: Cunoniaceae

Finding large specimens of this tree in their habitat, may make you think that you have wandered into a forest inhabited by the characters found in ‘The...

17 / 04 / 2017 | Jane Forrester | Harold Porter NBG
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Rinorea angustifolia subsp. natalensis

Rinorea angustifolia subsp. natalensis (Geoff Nichols)
Common names: white violetbush, narrow-leaved violetbush (Eng.), witviooltjiebos, smalblaarviooltjiebos (Afr.), ugudha-mfeni, umzungulu (isiXhosa), ithwakela, impic
Family: Violaceae

...

10 / 04 / 2017 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Cephalaria pungens

Cephalaria pungens
Common names: none kown
Family: Dipsacaceae

Attractive cream, white or pale yellow flower heads, with protruding greyish anthers, attracts you from afar, especially when growing gregariously and...

10 / 04 / 2017 | Mkhipheni Ngwenya | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium
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Othonna herrei

Othonna herrei in cultivation at the Karoo Desert NBG.
Common names: Richtersveld othonna
Family: Asteraceae

This bonsai-like Othonna is unique and certainly the most remarkable species in the genus....

03 / 04 / 2017 | Carole Sutty | Karoo Desert NBG
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Chaenostoma hispidum

Chaenostoma hispidum
Common names: bristly skunkbush (Eng.); stinkbossie (Afr.)
Family: Scrophulariaceae

A small, aromatic, perennial shrublet with attractive white, pink to mauve star-shaped flowers in summer, good for garden borders....

03 / 04 / 2017 | Mpendulo Gabayi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Ledebouria mokobulanensis

Ledebouria mokobulanensis
Common names: Mokobulan African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

An enigmatic, rare and range-restricted species from the high-altitude grasslands, on the crests of the Mpumalanga Drakensberg, in Mpumalanga Province,...

31 / 03 / 2017 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Ledebouria remifolia

Ledebouria remifolia
Common names: butterspoon African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

A unique, dwarf, bulbous plant which produces spoon-like leaves on a long slender stalk. This small enigmatic species makes a curious container subject...

31 / 03 / 2017 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Ledebouria parvifolia

Ledebouria parvifolia
Common names: elusive African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

A very rare and elusive species seldom seen in its natural habitat due to its small size and remote location in the Mpumalanga Drakensberg, Mpumalanga,...

31 / 03 / 2017 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Macaranga capensis

Macaranga capensis in flower (Geoff Nichols).
Common names: river macaranga, false-poplar, spiny macaranga, wild-poplar (Eng.); riviermakaranga, valspopulier, wildepopulier (Afr.); umbengele, umphumelezi, umphu
Family: Euphorbiaceae

A perfect feature plant for a tropical garden, Macaranga capensis is also used medicinally for various ailments, and it attracts bees and birds to the...

27 / 03 / 2017 | M.S. Mothogoane | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Pyrrosia schimperiana

Pyrrosia schimperiana growing on a cliff at Mariepskop, Blyde River Canyon.
Common names: canyon fern (Eng.); afgrondvaring (Afr.)
Family: Polypodiaceae

A rare fern, only known from the Blyde River Canyon in the Mpumalanga Province, confined to sheer cliffs. The plant grows in small, dense clusters, with...

27 / 03 / 2017 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Protea nana

Protea nana (Marian Oliver)
Common names: mountain rose, mountain-rose sugarbush (Eng.); bergroos, warebergroos, skaamblom, skaamroos, skaamrosie (Afr.)
Family: Proteaceae

A delightful shrub, with soft needle-shaped leaves that shimmer in the wind, while its cup-shaped, crimson flower heads, shyly nod. ...

20 / 03 / 2017 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Barleria virgula

Barleria virgula
Common names: sand bush violet (Eng.); sandbosviooltjie (Afr.)
Family: Acanthaceae

‘The drier I get, the better I flower!’...

13 / 03 / 2017 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG
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Syncolostemon canescens

Syncolostemon canescens
Common names: coconut-scented sagebush, grey-haired sagebush
Family: Lamiaceae

A small, aromatic perennial, with dainty, purplish pink, summer flowers and leaves that have a strong and unusual fruity, coconutty scent; a ‘must-have’...

13 / 03 / 2017 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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