Plants of the Week

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E.g., 13/12/2024
E.g., 13/12/2024

Salvia schlechteri

Salvia schlechteri
Common names: Xobo Valley sage
Family: Lamiaceae

Little is known about Salvia schlechteri, but with its unusual foliage and pale blue flowers, it deserves a place amid a herbaceous border or summer...

02 / 12 / 2013 | Monique Mcquillan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Salvia thermarum

Flowers
Common names: Goudini sage (Eng.)
Family: Lamiaceae

S. thermarum (also sometimes mistakenly called S. thermara), with its pale red flowers and red bracts, makes a beautiful garden specimen. An added bonus...

03 / 01 / 2005 | De La Cruz P | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Samolus porosus

Samolus porosus
Common names: water-pimpernel
Family: Theophrastaceae

Samolus porosus is a very adaptable herbaceous plant found growing in a variety of moist or wet habitats and often under harsh coastal conditions....

19 / 03 / 2012 | | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Sandersonia aurantiaca

Flowers
Common names: Christmas bells (Eng.); geelklokkie (Afr.); ushayabhici (Zulu); ihlamvu (Zulu)
Family: Colchicaceae

Seldom seen in cultivation in southern Africa, the highly ornamental, lantern-like flowers of Sandersonia aurantiaca are universally admired,...

25 / 12 / 2006 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Satyrium carneum

Satyrium carneum
Common names: pink satyr orchid (Eng.); rooikappie, rooi-trewwa, ewwa-trewwa (Afr.)
Family: Orchidaceae

Satyrium carneum, an endemic orchid in Western Cape from the Cape Peninsula to Riversdale, is becoming increasingly local and rare....

10 / 11 / 2003 | Berenice Carolus | Harold Porter NBG
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Satyrium coriifolium

Flowers
Common names: golden satyr orchid (Eng.); ewwa-trewwa, goue-trewwa, ouma-trewwa, rooi-trewwa (Afr.)
Family: Orchidaceae

With its brightly coloured yellow or orange-red flowers, Satyrium coriifolium is one of the most attractive terrestrial orchids of the Cape Floristic...

29 / 08 / 2005 | H Kurzweil | Compton Herbarium
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Satyrium princeps

Part of flower stalk
Common names: red satyr orchid (Eng.); rooitrewwa (Afr.)
Family: Orchidaceae

Satyrium princeps is a handsome but threatened terrestrial orchid from coastal sands in the southern part of the Western and Eastern Cape. Its long-lasting...

21 / 01 / 2013 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Scabiosa incisa

Scabious incisa
Common names: coast scabious (Eng.), koringblommetjie (Afr.), isilawu esikhulu, iyeza lamehlo (Xhosa)
Family: Dipsacaceae

Scabiosa incisa with its large mauve or white flowers must be one of South Africa's prettiest indigenous perennials. Growing in small clumps, the flowerheads...

08 / 12 / 2003 | Liesl Van der Walt | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Scabiosa africana

Scabiosa africana
Common names: Cape Scabious, Pincushion, Koringblom
Family: Dipsacaceae

Seeing Scabiosa africana on the mountain, the first thought is that it must have escaped from a garden nearby. With its big mauve flowers and soft leaves,...

04 / 12 / 2000 | Liesl Van der Walt | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Scabiosa drakensbergensis

Scabiosa drakensbergensis
Common names: Drakensberg scabious, pincushion (Eng.); koringblom (Afr.)
Family: Dipsacaceae

A bushy scabiosa with large soft green leaves and beautiful, pure white, ball-like inflorescences with flowers packed tightly at the tips of long delicate...

23 / 01 / 2012 | Cherise Viljoen | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Scadoxus multiflorus subsp. katharinae

Scadoxus multiflorus ssp. katharinae
Common names: fireball lily, blood flower, katharine wheel, poison root (Eng.); bloedblom, gifwortel (Afr.); inkupulwane (isiXhosa); idunjana, ubukhoswane (isiZulu)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

This plant explodes into flower, producing huge orange-red flower balls in mid to late summer, it's a plant for semi-shade or shade in well-watered,...

26 / 02 / 2001 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Scadoxus puniceus

Scadoxus puniceus
Common names: Paintbrush lily, Snake lily (E), Rooikwas (Afr), isisphompho, umgola (Z)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

The spectacular paintbrush lily is one of South Africa's most striking bulbous plants. This species is quite variable and a number of different forms...

08 / 10 / 2001 | Sharon Turner | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Sceletium tortuosum

Sceletium tortuosum
Common names: kanna, tortuose fig marigold (Eng.); kanna, kougoed, tandtrekbos (Afr.); kanna (Khoi)
Family: Aizoaceae

Sceletium tortuosum is one of the oldest mesembs known to the western world. It became known to the early colonizers of the Cape in the 17th century and...

16 / 05 / 2005 | Pascale Chesselet | Compton Herbarium
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Schefflera umbellifera

Schefflera umbellifera
Common names: false cabbage tree (Eng.); valskiepersol (Afr.); umsenge, umkisiso(Xhosa); umsenge, umgezisa, umbumbu, umbegele, umsengembuzi (Zulu); umsengambuti (Sw
Family: Araliaceae

This tree is an upright tree with a rounded crown suitable for a courtyard or gardens with limited space. It was selected as one of the South African Trees...

21 / 02 / 2005 | Giles Mbambezeli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Schotia brachypetala

Schotia brachypetala in Kirstenbosch NBG.
Common names: weeping boer-bean, tree fuchsia, African walnut (Eng.); huilboerboon (Afr.); umfofofo, umgxam, ishimnumyane (Xhosa), ihluze, umgxamu, uvovovo (Zulu),
Family: Fabaceae

A handsome tree with a wide-spreading, rounded crown, and bright red, nectar-filled flowers in spring and early summer that attract many birds and insects;...

03 / 09 / 2001 | Giles Mbambezeli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Schotia latifolia

Flowers
Common names: forest boer-bean, bush boer-bean (Eng.); bosboerboon, boerboontjie (Afr.); umGxam, umXamo (isiXhosa); umGxamu (isiZulu)
Family: Fabaceae

The attractive pink blooms of the forest boer-bean are probably its most distinctive feature, unlike its close relatives, the weeping boer-bean (Schotia...

16 / 04 / 2007 | Alice Aubrey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Schrebera alata

Schrebera alata flowers
Common names: wild jasmine, wing-leafed wooden pear, (Eng.); wildejasmyn, houtpeer (Afr.); mulungwi (Venda); umGwenye-hlangula (Xhosa); umGwenya-hlungulu, umSishane
Family: Oleaceae

Wild jasmine anoints your garden with a pleasant, sweet-scented fragrance and glorifies it with white to dark pinkish red flowers during the summer season....

04 / 01 / 2010 | M.S. Mothogoane | National Herbarium Pretoria
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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
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Sclerochiton harveyanus

Sclerochiton harveyanus foliage and flowers
Common names: blue lips (Eng.); blou-lippe (Afr.); mazabuka (Swati); isiThibothi (Xhosa)
Family: Acanthaceae

Unusually lipped, mauve-blue flowers create a pretty floral display on this shade-loving shrub with its attractive glossy green foliage....

30 / 08 / 2010 | Sarah Curtis | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Scolopia mundii

Fruits and leaves of Scolopia mundi
Common names: red pear, mountain saffron (Eng.); rooipeer, doringpeer, bergsaffraan, klipdoring (Afr.); uLoyiphela, umdwendwelencuba, iHlambahlale, inGqumuza, iDung
Family: Salicaceae

Scolopia mundii is a graceful and attractive tree producing glossy, dark green leaves and striking yellow to orange fruits. It is relatively widespread...

22 / 08 / 2005 | Jan-Hakon Burring | Kirstenbosch NBG
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