Plants of the Week

Tritoniopsis triticea

Common names: mountain pipes (Eng.); rooibergpypie, klipuintjie, berguintjie, karkarblom (Afr.)

Family: Iridaceae

A bright red, spiky-looking flower growing among the fynbos in a dry rocky area, caught my eye as I was walking along the contour path above Kirstenbosch...

04 / 12 / 2006 | Xolelwa Lusithi | Kirstenbosch NBG

Trochomeria macrocarpa

Common names: bobbejaankomkommer (Afr.)

Family: Cucurbitaceae

The bright red, juicy fruits of this climber will attract birds to your garden....

20 / 03 / 2006 | M Welman | National Herbarium Pretoria

Tulbaghia simmleri

Common names: sweet wild garlic, sweet garlic, fragrant tulbaghia (Eng.); soetwildeknoffel, aandblommetjie (Afr.)

Family: Alliaceae

Tulbaghia simmleri is a desirable and rewarding garden plant, with decorative and sweetly fragrant flowers, and it is easy to grow....

30 / 09 / 2013 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Tulbaghia violacea

Common names: wild garlic, society garlic (Eng.); wildeknoffel, wildeknoflok (Afr.); utswelane (Xho.); isihaqa, incinsini, (Zul.)

Family: Alliaceae

This is a popular garden plant that is useful for difficult hot corners of the garden as it will tolerate prolonged drought, although it flourishes with...

27 / 09 / 2004 | Shireen Harris | Free State NBG

Turnera oculata var. oculata

Common names: Namib Turnera

Family: Turneraceae

The Namib Turnera has striking yellow flowers with a conspicuous dark centre and occurs in Kaokoveld in the Namib Desert in northern Namibia and in southern...

14 / 12 / 2009 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Turraea obtusifolia

Common names: small honeysuckle tree, lesser honeysuckle tree, (Eng.); kleinkamperfoelieboom (Afr.); amazulu, ikhambi-lomsinga [roots], ikunzi [roots], ikunzi ebomv

Family: Meliaceae

Turraea obtusifolia is an ornamental shrub with glossy dark green foliage, masses of showy white flowers in summer and decorative orange-red fruits in...

05 / 02 / 2007 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Tylecodon ellaphieae

Common names: Rosyntjieberg-nenta (Afr.)

Family: Crassulaceae

Tylecodon ellaphieae is one of 46 species in the genus Tylecodon, all endemic to the winter rainfall region of South Africa and Namibia....

01 / 01 / 2007 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Tylecodon paniculatus

Common names: butter tree (Eng.); botterboom, baadtjies (Afrik.)

Family: Crassulaceae

Tylecodon paniculatus is a stocky, caudiciform, arborescent succulent that occurs over a wide area. ...

02 / 09 / 2002 | Ian Oliver | Karoo Desert NBG

Typha capensis

Common names: bulrush ( Eng.); papkuil, matjiesriet (Afr.); ibhuma (Zulu, Swazi); ingcongolo (Xhosa); motsitla (Sesotho)

Family: Typhaceae

Typha capensis is synonymous with most large as well as small freshwater bodies. These perennial, leafy aquatic plants with their distinctive velvety-brown...

27 / 08 / 2007 | Werner Voigt | Harold Porter NBG

Terminalia phanerophlebia

Common names: Lebombo cluster-leaf (Eng.); Lebombotrosblaar (Afr.); amaNgwe-amnyama, amaNgwe-omphofu (isiZulu); mambonjwane (SiSwati)

Family: Combretaceae

A decorative shrub to small tree with a hard, heavy brown wood. It is an ideal tree for street planting....

11 / 08 / 2014 | F Nonyane | Pretoria NBG

Trichostomum brachydontium

Common names: Variable crisp-moss

Family: Pottiaceae

Trichostomum brachydontium is the most widespread and frequently collected moss in South Africa....

23 / 12 / 2013 | Jacques van Rooy | National Herbarium Pretoria

Turraea floribunda

Common names: honeysuckle-tree, wild honeysuckle-tree (Eng.); kanferfoelieboom (Afr.); umdlozana (Swazi); umadlozane (isiZulu)

Family: Meliaceae

This is a slender, elegant tree that is ideal for small subtropical and tropical gardens. The tracery of leafless branches is covered in spring with a...

16 / 02 / 2015 | John Manning | Compton Herbarium

Thamnochortus spicigerus

Common names: large thatching reed (Engl.); duineriet, olifantsriet, dekriet (Afr.)

Family: Restionaceae

Thamnochortus spicigerus is a striking, tufted- or tussock-forming perennial that will make a lovely feature in your garden. The dark brown spikelets will...

20 / 04 / 2015 | Phumza Bavuma | Kirstenbosch NBG

Toddalia asiatica

Common names: orange climber (Eng); ranklemoentjie (Afr); gwambadzi (Venda)

Family: Rutaceae

Did you know that we have an indigenous orange in South Africa? This plant,Toddalia asiatica, is a woody vine (a liana) and bears fruit which, although...

17 / 01 / 2005 | Jean Meyer | National Herbarium Pretoria

Triumfetta annua

Common names: bur weed, lesser cockle bur, annual triumfetta (Eng.); klitsbossie (Afr.); umhlabangubo (isiXhosa)

Family: Malvaceae

...

23 / 11 / 2015 | Nonkululo Phephu | National Herbarium Pretoria

Teclea gerrardii

Common names: Zulu cherry-orange, flaky-barked cherry-orange (Eng.); Zulukersielemoen (Afr.); umozane (isiZulu); umboza, inzinyana, (isiXhosa)

Family: Rutaceae

The Zulu cherry-orange is an ornamental tree that grows well in sunny or shady positions and invites wildlife to gardens because of its attractive, fleshy,...

16 / 05 / 2016 | Aluwani Tshiila | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium

Triumfetta sonderi

Common names: Sonder’s truimfetta (Eng.); waaierbossie, maagbossie, rolbossie, spinnekopbossie, tolbossie (Afr.); mokuku (Sepedi)

Family: Malvaceae

A beautiful shrub from the grasslands, with small, star-shaped, light yellow flowers and attractive rounded, pinkish-red, hairy fruits....

13 / 06 / 2016 | Refilwe Maria Malatji | Pretoria NBG

Trichocephalus stipularis

Common names: dogface (Eng.); hondegesiggie (Afr.)

Family: Rhamnaceae

A hardy, rounded shrublet, with evergreen dark foliage, starry pink flowers in white-woolly, rounded flowerheads in autumn and winter followed by reddish,...

20 / 06 / 2016 | Ramadimetja Junia Maleka | Kirstenbosch NBG

Thespesia acutiloba

Common names: small-leaved portia tree, wild tulip tree, small-leaved tulip tree (Eng.); kleinblaarportiaboom, kleinblaartulpboom, wildetulpboom (Afr.); umthombe (i

Family: Malvaceae

An attractive tree with handsome foliage, showy lemon-yellow flowers in summer and decorative red fruits. This tree is not well known among the general...

02 / 01 / 2017 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Tagetes minuta

Common names: khaki bush, khaki weed, African marigold (Eng.); kakiebos, khakibos, langkakiebos, stinkbos, stinkkhakibos, transvaalse kakiebos (Afr.); mbanje (isiNd

Family: Asteraceae

Khaki bush planted around your house will provide you with a very good early-warning security system. The strong odor of the bush when crushed will immediately...

27 / 02 / 2017 | Marinda Koekemoer | National Herbarium Pretoria

Browse through all previous entries of Plants Of The Week

Pages

Pages