Plants of the Week

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E.g., 09/11/2024
E.g., 09/11/2024

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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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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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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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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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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Galtonia regalis

Common names: Royal Berg Lily
Family: Hyacinthaceae

Galtonia regalis is now called Ornithogalum regale...

05 / 12 / 2022 | | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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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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Erica walkeria

Erica walkeria
Common names: Swellendam heath, quality heath, Walker’s heath (Eng.); swellendamsheide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

Erica walkeria is a densely leafy, shrubby heath with masses of starry, pink, urn-shaped flowers in small heads in spring, and makes a rewarding potplant...

05 / 12 / 2022 | Kamogelo Solomon Modimola | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Ledebouria atropurpurea

Ledebouria atropurpurea
Common names: purple African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

An uncommon bulbous plant with broadly lanceolate, hairy leaves and small purple flowers in spring....

28 / 11 / 2022 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Bulbine capitata

Bulbine capitata flowers
Common names: scented grass-bulbine, narrow-leaved bulbine (Eng.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

That striking, luminous yellow flower showing off in the grasslands during spring is the beautiful Bulbine capitata, a perennial herb with slender, grass-like...

28 / 11 / 2022 | Rofhiwa Ingrid Mudau | Pretoria NBG
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Psychotria suber

Psychotria suber in its natural habitat, Three Sisters, Mpumalanga
Common names: corkbark bird-berry (Eng.); kurkbas-voelbessie (Afr.)
Family: Rubiaceae

The corkbark bird-berry is a recently described small tree that grows wild on rocky mountain peaks in Barberton, Mbombela, Swaziland and adjacent KwaZulu-Natal...

21 / 11 / 2022 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Senecio elegans

Senecio elegans, white or purple daisies
Common names: wild cineraria, veld cineraria, greater purple ragwort, purple senecio (Eng.); strandblommetjie (Afr.); izuba (isiXhosa)
Family: Asteraceae

During spring, this annual daisy flowers in abundance along the west and south coast of South Africa, making a beautiful display when flowering in mass,...

15 / 11 / 2022 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Ledebouria davidsoniae

Ledebouria davidsoniae
Common names: striped African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

Dwarf bulbous plant with small, striped leaves and pale pink to whitish flowers in spring and summer....

14 / 11 / 2022 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Crassula vaginata subsp. vaginata

Crassula vaginata subsp. vaginata flowerhead. Photo Geoff Nichols
Common names: yellow stonecrop, yellow crassula (Eng.), uphuncuka (isiXhosa), umdumbukane, umakhulefingqana (isiZulu), erekisienyane (Sesotho)
Family: Crassulaceae

Crassula vaginata subsp. vaginata is a rosette-forming succulent, that sprouts annually from a woody rootstock and is a rewarding addition to a grassland...

14 / 11 / 2022 | Philile Khuzwayo | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Ledebouria woodii

A cluster of Ledebouria woodii plants in habitat
Common names: Wood’s African hyacinth (Eng.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

Bulbous plant with usually unspotted leaves and green to pale green, whitish, strongly hyacinth-scented flowers, in spring and summer....

07 / 11 / 2022 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Erica sitiens

Erica sitiens, pink form in the Erica Living Collection, Kirstenbosch.
Common names: thirsty heath (Eng.) dors-heide (Afr.)
Family: Ericaceae

This upright or sprawling shrub becomes covered with masses of pink, red or white flowers, or a combination of red with white lobes, during the summer...

07 / 11 / 2022 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Alepidea cordifolia

Alepidea cordifolia inflorescence. Photo Barbara Clulow
Common names: heart-leaf alepidea (Eng.); iqwili (isiXhosa); ikhathazo (isiZulu); lesoko (South Sotho), inkatsankatsa (Swazi)
Family: Apiaceae

A robust, erect herbaceous perennial, with flat-topped flowerheads bearing several star-shaped, white to cream and greenish flowers. It is becoming increasingly...

31 / 10 / 2022 | Mashudu Tshitereke | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Bulbine sceletium

Bulbine sceletium
Common names: blue cliff-bulbine (Eng.); bloukranskopieva (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Bulbine sceletium is a cliff-squatting, aloe-like plant with sparingly branched rosettes of soft, pale green, striated leaves and solitary inflorescences...

31 / 10 / 2022 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Delosperma velutinum

Delosperma velutinum white flower EVJ
Common names: silky-leaved cliff-delosperma (Eng.); syblaarkransvygie (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

Delosperma velutinum grows widespread along riverine cliffs in KwaZulu-Natal. It is a cliff-hugger with a spreading habit and can be used as a pot plant...

24 / 10 / 2022 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Eucomis zambesiaca

Eucomis zambesiaca
Common names: Zambezi pineapple flower, tropical pineapple lily (Eng.); witpynappellelie (Afr.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

This stunner, is one of the smaller, and pleasantly scented species of Eucomis and the only one that occurs only in Limpopo province....

24 / 10 / 2022 | Dineo Dibakwane | Walter Sisulu NBG
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