Plants of the Week

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E.g., 25/11/2024
E.g., 25/11/2024

Ornithogalum regale

Ornithogalum regale. Photo Peter Warren
Common names: Royal Berg Lily (Eng.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

The ever so graceful Ornithogalum regale is one of the summer flowering gems of the Drakensberg....

05 / 12 / 2022 | Dineo Dibakwane | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Galtonia regalis

Common names: Royal Berg Lily
Family: Hyacinthaceae

Galtonia regalis is now called Ornithogalum regale...

05 / 12 / 2022 | | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Moraea hiemalis

Moraea heimalis. Photo Richard Boon
Common names: winter yellow moraea
Family: Iridaceae

A threatened species that is endemic to the grasslands of central KwaZulu-Natal, its striking, rich golden yellow flowers stand out in the winter landscape...

12 / 12 / 2022 | Mlondi Sikhosana | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Bulbine keiskammaensis

Bulbine keiskammaensis flowering in the succulent house at Babylonstoren Farm
Common names: Keiskamma bulbine (Eng.); Keiskamma kopieva (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Bulbine keiskammaensis is an aloe-like plant that hangs from the cliffs of the Keiskamma River in the Eastern Cape. It has drooping, sparingly branched...

12 / 12 / 2022 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Felicia tenella subsp. tenella

Felicia tenella subsp. tenella
Common names: bristly felicia (Eng.); astertjie (Afr.)
Family: Asteraceae

This striking, winter- or spring-flowering annual with bright blue and yellow daisies, is another of South Africa’s plant jewels. It performs well...

19 / 12 / 2022 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Tetragonia fruticosa

Tetragonia fruticosa in flower. Photo Nanna Joubert
Common names: sprawling sea coral, trailing dune-spinach (Eng.); kinkelbossie, kinkelklappers, kleinsaadklappiesbrak, klimopkinkelbossie, porseleinbos, slaaibos, wa
Family: Aizoaceae

A bushy shrub with a yellow-green appearance and a red tinge, and in bright sunlight it appears to glisten, because the plant is covered in striking, minute...

19 / 12 / 2022 | Shireen Harris | Karoo Desert NBG
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Ranunculus multifidus

Ranunculus multifidus. Photo Geoff Nichols
Common names: wild buttercup, common buttercup, African buttercup (Eng.); botterblom, brandblare, kankerblare, geelbotterblom, rhenoster (Afr.); hlapi (Sesotho); is
Family: Ranunculaceae

Wild Buttercup is a small evergreen herb, with bright green leaves and masses of yellow flowers in summer, that grows well in damp grassland and spreads...

26 / 12 / 2022 | T.T. Masupa | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Kalanchoe waterbergensis

Kalanchoe waterbergensis
Common names: Waterberg Kalanchoe (Eng.); Waterbergplakkie (Afr.)
Family: Crassulaceae

A rare, dwarf leaf-succulent from the Waterberg in the Limpopo Province. The flat, broadly egg-shaped, bluish leaves are crowded at the base before flowering...

26 / 12 / 2022 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Erica empetrina

Flowers of Erica empetrina
Common names: crowberry heath (Eng.); kraaibessieheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica empetrina boasts with a burst of pink to red flowers in spring, from September to December.Fig. 1. Flowers of Erica empetrina....

02 / 01 / 2023 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Carissa sebrabergensis

Carissa sebrabergensis
Common names: Sebraberg numnum (Eng.); Sebraberg-noemnoem (Afr.)
Family: Apocynaceae

The Sebraberg numnum is a rare shrub from the Sebraberg in northern Kaokoveld, Namibia. It is a diminutive, layered evergreen, spiny shrub, with small...

02 / 01 / 2023 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Berzelia cordifolia

Berzelia cordifolia flowerheads
Common names: Potberg kolkol, heart-leaf berzelia (Eng.); kolkolbossie (Afr.)
Family: Bruniaceae

A small, upright shrub with clusters of ball-shaped, white flower heads in spring....

09 / 01 / 2023 | Mane Somtshu | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Marasmodes dummeri

Marasmodes dummeri
Common names: whip autumn-aster
Family: Asteraceae

The extremely small, adpressed leaves of Marasmodes dummeri and the terminal, clustered flower heads make it distinct from other species of the same genus....

09 / 01 / 2023 | Naomi Mdayi | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Oxytenanthera abyssinica

Oxytenanthera abyssinica growing in the DRC. Photo Duncan McKenzie
Common names: holy Venda bamboo, wild bamboo (Eng.); heilige Venda-bamboes, wilde-bamboes (Afr.); musununu (Ven.)
Family: Poaceae

A large, woody plant that belongs in the grass family, Poaceae, and is endemic to Africa, known as the holy Venda bamboo, wild bamboo or musununu in South...

16 / 01 / 2023 | Lesibana Petrus Maema | Thohoyandou NBG
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Tylecodon ectypus

Tylecodon ectypus in habitat
Common names: Steinkopf tylecodon (Eng.); Steinkopf krimpsiektebossie (Afr.)
Family: Crassulaceae

A recently described, rare, dwarf, succulent geophyte from the Richtersveld, Northern Cape. Plants are solitary or in small clusters, with a sparingly...

16 / 01 / 2023 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Albizia antunesiana

Albizia antunesiana, inflorescence and new foliage. Photo Mervyn Lötter
Common names: purple-leaved false-thorn (Eng.), persblaarvalsdoring (Afr.)
Family: Fabaceae

An attractive deciduous tree with a flattened, umbrella-shaped crown, large greenish to yellow, half-spherical, fluffy flower heads that make the tree...

23 / 01 / 2023 | Caroline Marima | Pretoria NBG
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Haworthia marumiana var. reddii

Haworthia marumiana var. reddii
Common names: Waterdown Dam haworthia (Eng.), Klipplaat dwergaalwyntjie (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Haworthia marumiana var. reddii is a dwarf, mat-forming cliff-hugger, establishing clusters of numerous small rosettes of light green, succulent leaves...

23 / 01 / 2023 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Anginon difforme

Anginon difforme
Common names: common needle-leaf, common finkel (Eng.); wildevinkel, wildeseldery (Afr.)
Family: Apiaceae

Anginon difforme is an endemic of southern Africa with reduced, needle-like leaves that resemble pine needles, so much so that it sometimes is confused...

30 / 01 / 2023 | Nokukhanya Nozipho Mhlongo | Compton Herbarium
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Adromischus phillipsiae

Adromischus phillipsiae on a sheer south facing cliff
Common names: bell-nenta (Eng.), klokkiesrosie, klokkiesnenta (Afr.)
Family: Crassulaceae

The bell-nenta is a succulent plant growing along the western mountainous escarpment margin between Sutherland and Steinkopf in the Western and Northern...

30 / 01 / 2023 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Lydenburgia cassinoides

Lydenburgia cassinoides in its natural habitat. Photo Christien Steyn
Common names: Sekhukhuni bushman's tea (Eng.); sekhukhuni-boesmanstee (Afr.); mohlolodi (Northern Sotho)
Family: Celastraceae

Sekhukhuni Bushman’s Tea is a medium sized tree, occurring in bushveld in Sekhukhuneland and Lydenburg, which showcases its distinctive cream to...

06 / 02 / 2023 | Ntsakisi Masia | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Delosperma zeederbergii

Delosperma zeederbergii in flower in its habitat
Common names: Spekboom River mesemb (Eng.); spekboomriviervygie (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

Delosperma zeederbergii is only known from cliffs along the upper Spekboom River near Lydenburg (Mashishing) in Mpumalanga. A fast grower, it has soft...

06 / 02 / 2023 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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