Plants of the Week

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E.g., 24/11/2024
E.g., 24/11/2024

Rhynchosia albissima

Rhynchosia albissima
Common names: silver snoutbean
Family: Fabaceae

A bright yellow-flowered, robust and erect indigenous herb, velvety with silvery grey hairs. Its roots are used in traditional medicine to treat male impotence,...

24 / 09 / 2018 | M.S. Mothogoane | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Selago villicaulis ‘Purple Turtle’

Selago villicaulis 'Purple Turtle'
Common names: purple turtle selago
Family: Scrophulariaceae

This is a low growing perennial with striking lavender flowers, which appear twice in a year, in midwinter to spring and in midsummer, and sporadically...

24 / 09 / 2018 | Sinikeziwe Ncaphayi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Barleria rigida var. rigida

Barleria rigida var. rigida
Common names: scorpion thistle (Eng.); skerpioendissel (Afr.)
Family: Acanthaceae

Your first choice plant for the sunny dry areas in your garden....

17 / 09 / 2018 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG
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Bauhinia petersiana subsp. macrantha

Bauhinia petersiana subsp. macrantha
Common names: Kalahari bauhinia, Kalahari camel’s foot, coffee neat's foot (Eng.); kalaharibauhinia, kalaharibeesklou, koffiebeesklou (Afr.); motsantsa, mogotswe
Family: Fabaceae

This low-growing, evergreen tree or scrambler, boasts with large, pleasantly scented white flowers in midsummer....

17 / 09 / 2018 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Maytenus procumbens

Maytenus procumbens, fruits. (Ernst van Jaarsveld)
Common names: dune koko tree (Eng.); duinekokoboom (Afr.); umphono-phono (isiXhosa) umphophonono; (isiZulu)
Family: Celastraceae

As the species name suggests, Maytenus procumbens is a tidy and procumbent coastal shrub or small tree. It is very pleasing to the eye especially with...

10 / 09 / 2018 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Euphorbia triangularis

Euphorbia triangularis
Common names: river euphorbia, chandelier-tree, tree euphorbia (Eng.); riviernaboom (Afr.); umhlonthlo (isiXhosa); umhlonhlowane, isiphapha (IsiZulu)
Family: Euphorbiaceae

A spiny, succulent tree with angled, segmented branches that leak a watery milky latex when damaged; it belongs in the spurge family, one of the largest...

10 / 09 / 2018 | Bathabile Ndlovu | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Strophanthus amboensis

Strophanthus amboensis
Common names: elephant vine, knob-stemmed poisonrope (Eng.); knopstamgiftou (Afr.); omhundure (Otjiherero); mangala-ndumbu (Lunyaneka, Muila & Muquilenge); muzua-ng
Family: Apocynaceae

When the Elephant Vine is well maintained, it can grow into a reasonable-sized bushy tree with extraordinary pretty, faintly but sweet-scented flowers...

03 / 09 / 2018 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Aeollanthus haumannii

Aeollanthus haumannii
Common names: Otjihipa rock-sage (Eng.); Otjihipa-klipsalie (Afr.)
Family: Lamiaceae

Aeollanthus haumannii is an aromatic, branched succulent with sticky, green leaves, bearing whitish mauve, 2-lipped flowers in autumn, only known from...

03 / 09 / 2018 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Argyrolobium angustissimum

Argyrolobium angustissimum
Common names: Paarl Fire Pea
Family: Fabaceae

Argyrolobium angustissimum is an unassuming Cape peaflower which until relatively recently had been presumed possibly extinct.Figure 1. Argyrolobium angustissimum...

27 / 08 / 2018 | Randall Josephs | Compton Herbarium
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Arctotis angustifolia

Arctotis angustifolia
Common names: narrow-leaved arctotis (Eng.); smalblaar gousblom (Afr.)
Family: Asteraceae

This silvery-leaved perennial will light up many a garden with its bright orange or white flowers in spring....

27 / 08 / 2018 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Ledebouria viscosa

Ledebouria viscosa (Connal Oosterbroek)
Common names: sticky-leaf African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

This curious and enigmatic species of Ledebouria is highly unusual in the genus because of its viscous leaves which become sticky when wet, causing sand...

20 / 08 / 2018 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Gyrocarpus americanus subsp. africanus

Gyrocarpus americanus subsp. africanus
Common names: propeller tree, helicopter tree (Eng.); helikopterboom (Afr.); mutama, mudzoudzhou (Tshivenda).
Family: Hernandiaceae

An interesting tree with a smooth, grey to silvery white trunk, and ovoid fruit crowned with 2 wings, which look remarkably like the slender wings of a...

20 / 08 / 2018 | Matome Leboho | Pretoria NBG
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Pachycarpus campanulatus

Pachycarpus campanulatus var. campanulatus showing the inflorescence with pendent flowers.
Common names: cluster bells, toad plant, fairy bell pachycarpus, thick-fruit (Eng.); trosklokkies (Afr.); ishongwe (isiZulu).
Family: Apocynaceae

Pachycarpus campanulatus is a showy plant with large, hanging, bell-shaped flowers of up to 5 per umbel and exuding milky latex, like most plants in the...

13 / 08 / 2018 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Euphorbia nesemannii

Euphorbia nesemannii (Werner Voigt)
Common names: Nesemann's euphorbia (Eng.); melkpol (Afr.)
Family: Euphorbiaceae

A spiny, tuberous rooted species with a nearly cylindrical body, most of which is below the ground....

13 / 08 / 2018 | Sinikeziwe Ncaphayi | Karoo Desert NBG
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Brachystelma foetidum

Brachystelma foetidum
Common names: Hottentots bread (Eng); Hotnotsbrood, Hottentotsbrood (Afr); seru (Sesotho).
Family: Apocynaceae

A small, herbaceous perennial from the grasslands, with a large, flattened, underground, potato-like tuber, and unusual purple-brown and greenish yellow...

06 / 08 / 2018 | Lufuno Nenungwi | Free State NBG
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Dombeya tiliacea

Dombeya tiliacea
Common names: forest wild pear, forest dombeya, little-dog-rose (Eng.); bosblompeer, bosdrolpeer (Afr.), ibunda (isiZulu), utyibo (isiXhosa)
Family: Malvaceae

A pretty shrub or small tree, with white flowers in late summer to autumn, suitable for sun or semi-shade....

06 / 08 / 2018 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Bersama tysoniana

Bersama tysoniana (Richard Boon)
Common names: white ash, common white ash, common bersama, forest white ash, bitterbark, wild quinine tree (Eng.); witessenhout, gewone witessenhout, basternieshout
Family: Melianthaceae

Bersama tysoniana is an attractive tree because of its dense foliage, russet-brown new growth and knobbly fruits that split into quarters, exposing red...

30 / 07 / 2018 | Nonkululeko Ntshangase | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium
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Veltheimia capensis

Veltheimia capensis
Common names: quarobe, sand lily (Eng.); kwarobe, sandlelie (Afr.)
Family: Hyacinthaceae

Veltheimia capensis is an autumn- and winter-flowering bulb with striking rosettes of wavy or curled, grey-blue leaves and pendent, pink-speckled flowers....

30 / 07 / 2018 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gibbaeum heathii

Gibbaeum heathii
Common names: baby bums (Eng.); bababoutjies, hondebalvygie, hondebal, volstruiswater (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

One of the curious miniature succulents that grow in between quarzitic stones and is endemic to the Klein Karoo. It is one of the most popular species...

23 / 07 / 2018 | Ricardo Riddles | Karoo Desert NBG
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Ceriops tagal

Ceriops tagal (Geoff Nichols)
Common names: Indian mangrove (Eng), Indiese wortelboom (Afr), isinkaha (Zul.)
Family: Rhizophoraceae

A compact branched tree or shrub with a distinctive root growth, fascinating growth habit and seeds, occurring in the tidal estuaries, lagoons and swamps,...

23 / 07 / 2018 | Mpendulo Gabayi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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