Plants of the Week

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

Diosma aristata

Diosma aristata (A.L. Schutte-Vlok)
Common names: Mossel Bay buchu, spear-leaf diosma
Family: Rutaceae

Diosma aristata is without a doubt the most threatened species in this enigmatic genus of plants. Buchus are well known for their medicinal qualities,...

07 / 05 / 2018 | Ismail Ebrahim | CREW
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Erica irregularis

Erica irregularis, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve.
Common names: Gansbaai heath
Family: Ericaceae

A very special and beautiful plant that only occurs naturally in one place in the whole world. During the winter months, it transforms the landscape around...

07 / 05 / 2018 | Victoria Wilman | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Coleus venteri

Coleus venteri
Common names: Sekukuni coleus (Eng.); sekoekoeniesalie (Afr.)
Family: Lamiaceae

A relatively new species to horticulture, Coleus venteri is a unique, aromatic, sun-loving, water-wise shrub that is fast growing once established and...

30 / 04 / 2018 | Monique Mcquillan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Adenia spinosa

Adenia spinosa
Common names: spiny greenstem, elephant’s foot (Eng.); tshivhuyu-dumbu (Tshivenda)
Family: Passifloraceae

In the far north of South Africa grows a very special, ancient-looking plant with a stem resembling an elephant’s foot. In our neighbouring country,...

30 / 04 / 2018 | Livhuwani Auldrean Nkuna | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Rhynchosia hirta

Rhynchosia hirta
Common names: blue-seeded snoutbean, hairy snoutbean (Eng.); imbelekisani, iyezalesisu (Xho.)
Family: Fabaceae

A lovely indigenous vine with attractive blue seeds; an alternative to gardeners over exotics....

23 / 04 / 2018 | Thulisile P. Jaca | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Plectranthus lucidus

Plectranthus lucidus
Common names: shiny spurflower (Eng.); blinkblaar spoorsalie (Afr.)
Family: Lamiaceae

A fast-growing, resilient, shade-loving groundcover, recommended for coastal gardens....

23 / 04 / 2018 | Monique Mcquillan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Asparagus densiflorus ‘Meyersii’

Asparagus densiflorus ‘Meyersii’ growing in Kirstenbosch.
Common names: cat's tail asparagus (Eng.); katstert (Afr.); also known under a few variations or misspelling of its cultivar name, such as: ‘Myers’, Asparagus m
Family: Asparagaceae

Striking ornamental perennial with compactly clustered foliage on arched fronds resembling cat’s tails. Tiny, white, fragrant, star-like flowers...

16 / 04 / 2018 | Cherise Viljoen | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Lobelia pubescens

Lobelia pubescens
Common names: rock lobelia
Family: Lobeliaceae

This low-growing, bushy perennial, occurring near the coast, flowers from late spring to autumn. It will make a showy container plant, a lovely addition...

16 / 04 / 2018 | Karen Wall | Harold Porter NBG
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Trimeria grandifolia subsp. grandifolia

Trimeria grandifolia subsp. grandifolia, new growth.
Common names: wild-mulberry, big ears, big-leaf trimeria (Eng.); grootblaarwildemoerbei, grootblaarysterhout, wildemoerbei, lindeboom (Afr.); idlebe-lendlovu, igqab
Family: Salicaceae

This is a fast-growing, small to medium-sized, single stemmed tree, with decorative foliage that truly resembles the forest raisin tree, as well as the...

09 / 04 / 2018 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Othonna perfoliata

Othonna perfoliata (John Manning)
Common names: trailing othonna (Eng.); bobbejaankoolklimop (Afr.)
Family: Asteraceae

An Othonna with striking yellow flowers, found lurking among tall vegetation, to brighten your garden in the cold winter days....

09 / 04 / 2018 | Luvo Magoswana | Compton Herbarium
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Ledebouria cremnophila

Ledebouria cremnophila growing in habitat. (Mervyn Lӧtter)
Common names: krantz African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

A rare species restricted to the mountainous areas of the Barberton region in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa, where it prefers to grow on steep...

02 / 04 / 2018 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Impatiens hochstetteri subsp. hochstetteri

Impatiens hochstetteri subsp. hochstetteri
Common names: wild balsam, common wild forest impatiens (Eng.); kruidjie-roer-my-nie (Afr.); ihlula, umadolwane (Zul.).
Family: Balsaminaceae

...

02 / 04 / 2018 | Mpendulo Gabayi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Trifolium africanum

Trifolium africanum (Mervyn Lotter)
Common names: erasmus clover, wild clover (Eng.); wildeklawer (Afr.); mmusapelo, moroko, musapelo, mokopshwe, mootsapelo, moqoiqoi, moqophi, (Sesotho)
Family: Fabaceae

...

26 / 03 / 2018 | Marianne le Roux | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Erica glandulosa subsp. breviflora

Erica glandulosa subsp. breviflora
Common names: Humansdorp glandulous heath
Family: Ericaceae

This subspecies is a short-flowered form of the very popular and reliable Erica glandulosa subsp. glandulosa and is new to horticulture. It is in itself...

26 / 03 / 2018 | Anthony Hitchcock | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Cotyledon xanthantha

Cotyledon xanthantha
Common names: Still Bay pig's ears, Still Bay cotyledon (Eng.); stilbaai-plakkie (Afr.)
Family: Crassulaceae

Cotyledon xanthantha is a recently named, scrambling, succulent shrub with tubular yellow flowers, confined to thicket vegetation of the dry river valleys...

19 / 03 / 2018 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Barleria wilmsiana

Barleria wilmsiana
Common names: Wilms’s barleria (Eng.); Wilms-se-barleria (Afr.)
Family: Acanthaceae

A beautiful garden plant but difficult to grow....

19 / 03 / 2018 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG
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Streptocarpus confusus

Streptocarpus confusus (Cherise Viljoen)
Common names: Cape primrose (Eng.)
Family: Gesneriaceae

A unique species of the genus Streptocarpus, exhibiting two special subspecies of unifoliate and monocarpic characteristics, boasting a large leaf with...

12 / 03 / 2018 | Renira Boodhraj | CREW
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Heywoodia lucens

Heywoodia lucens, looking up the trunk into the canopy. (Geoff Nichols)
Common names: stink-ebony, Cape-ebony, foetid-ebony, black-ebony (Eng.); stinkebbehout, swartebbehout (Afr.); umnebelele (Xho.); umnebelele, ibeyana (Zul.)
Family: Phyllanthaceae

Cape-ebony or stink-ebony as it is also known, is a tall, evergreen tree and the only species in the genus Heywoodia; it is usually found growing in coastal,...

12 / 03 / 2018 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gasteria koenii

A plant of Gasteria koenii with linear leaves, growing just above the stream bank of the Smitsrivier Gorge, on the southern foothills of the Osberg.
Common names: Osberg ox-tongue (Eng.); osberg-beestong (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Gasteria koenii is an exciting recent discovery, confined to the southern foothills of the Groot Swartberg, near Calitzdorp. The mottled, sickle-shaped...

05 / 03 / 2018 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Rhynchosia adenodes

Rhynchosia adenodes (Christeen Grant)
Common names: monyamadi (Sesotho); ungazini (isiZulu)
Family: Fabaceae

A bright yellow-flowered, indigenous, prostrate herb, with long trailing stems; its roots are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of rheumatism,...

05 / 03 / 2018 | M.S. Mothogoane | National Herbarium Pretoria
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