Plants of the Week

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

Azanza garckeana

Azanza garckeana (Bart Wurston)
Common names: azanza, quarters, Rhodesian tree-hibiscus, slime-apple, snot-apple, tree-hibiscus (Eng.); slymappel, snotappel (Afr.); caglacagla, ixaguxagu, ixakuxak
Family: Malvaceae

Azanza garckeana with its non-aggressive root system, large leaves and crinkled yellow flowers, makes a beautiful shade tree which has the added bonus...

18 / 12 / 2017 | Ashton Welcome | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Lannea schweinfurthii var. stuhlmannii

Lannea schweinfurthii var. stuhlmannii (Geoff Nichols)
Common names: false-marula (Eng.); valsmaroela (Afr.); mmopu (NSo.); umganunkomo (Zul.)
Family: Anacardiaceae

This small to medium-sized, deciduous tree, with its small, creamy white to yellow flowers and aromatic leaves, will not only attract birds to your garden,...

18 / 12 / 2017 | Benjamin Festus | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Rhizophora mucronata

Red Mangrove, Rhizophora mucronata.
Common names: red mangrove (Eng.); rooiwortelboom (Afr.); umhlume, umngombamkhonto (Zul.); umhluma (Xho.)
Family: Rhizophoraceae

A conical tree with a distinctive root growth and fascinating growing habit, occurring in the tidal estuaries, lagoons and swamps, as a member of a mangrove...

11 / 12 / 2017 | Mpendulo Gabayi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe reitzii var. vernalis

Aloe reitzii var. vernalis
Common names: Vryheid aloe
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe reitzii var. vernalis is a rare endemic known from a single population, growing on steep slopes around Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal. It has showy, dark...

11 / 12 / 2017 | Hlengiwe Mtshali | CREW
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Pachycarpus natalensis

Pachycarpus natalensis
Common names: Natal thick-fruit, Natal pachycarpus (Eng.); ishongwe elibomvu elikhulu (isiZulu)
Family: Apocynaceae

Pachycarpus natalensis is one of many amazingly beautiful indigenous plants, which is almost never cultivated. This is due to the short span of its flowering,...

04 / 12 / 2017 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Ficus muelleriana

Ficus muelleriana
Common names: wandering rock-fig, Chimanimani rock-fig, Mueller’s climbing fig (Eng.); chimanimanirotsvy (Afr.)
Family: Moraceae

Ficus muelleriana represents a fairly recent discovery. It is a rare, cliff-dwelling, scandent shrub, with beautiful heart-shaped leaves, reddish leaf...

04 / 12 / 2017 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Lycium ferocissimum

Lycium ferocissimum
Common names: Cape box thorn, honey thorn, snake-berry, African box thorn (Eng.); slangbessie, karriedoring, bokdoring (Afr.); ubovu (Xho.)
Family: Solanaceae

A spiny, evergreen shrub with attractive red berries, that are borne sporadically throughout the year and make it a perfect plant to attract birds to the...

27 / 11 / 2017 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Euphorbia sekukuniensis

Euphorbia sekukuniensis
Common names: Sekhukhune candelabra-tree, Sekhukhune euphorbia (Eng.); sekhukhunenaboom (Afr.)
Family: Euphorbiaceae

A rare, small, succulent tree that is endemic in Sekhukhuneland, in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, where it occurs in a specialized habitat....

27 / 11 / 2017 | Ntuthuko Mabuya | Pretoria NBG
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Ammocharis coranica

Ammocharis coranica
Common names: karoo lily, koranna lily, sore eye flower, bible flower, ground lily (Eng.); berglelie, gifbol, seeroogblom (Afr.); boka (Sesotho); isidiya, icukudo,
Family: Amaryllidaceae

Ammocharis coranica lives up to its common name, sore eye flower. This striking beautiful bulb, with its umbel inflorescence, delivers spectacular flower...

20 / 11 / 2017 | Ricardo Riddles | Karoo Desert NBG
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Chironia krebsii

Chironia krebsii (Nick Helme)
Common names: Kreb’s chironia (Eng.); khomoeasephatla, mamorolane, mosia (Sesotho); umanqunduswazi, umbangwangwa (isiZulu)
Family: Gentianaceae

A beautiful perennial with striking pink flowers with prominent yellow anthers....

20 / 11 / 2017 | Nomama Mei | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Gladiolus longicollis

Gladiolus longicollis (Dineo Dibakwane)
Common names: honey flower (Eng.); aandblom (Afr.); umbejo (Zulu); khahla-e-nyenyane, kukhurupa (Southern Sotho)
Family: Iridaceae

Gladiolus longicollis has pale yellow to white, long-tubed, night-blooming flowers that are either uniformly coloured or mottled with brown and have a...

13 / 11 / 2017 | Bathabile Ndlovu | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Wachendorfia brachyandra

Wachendorfia brachyandra (Gigi Laidler)
Common names: short-stamen butterfly lily, lax butterfly lily
Family: Haemodoraceae

This is a long-lived and free-flowering species, ideal for a sunny rockery....

13 / 11 / 2017 | Sisanda Alakhe Velembo-Mhlauli | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Albizia suluensis

Albizia suluensis (Geoff Nichols)
Common names: Zulu false-thorn, Zulu albizia (Eng.); zuluvalsdoring (Afr.); ingwebu-enkulu, ungwebo omkulu, unyazangoma (Zulu)
Family: Fabaceae

A beautiful, elegant tree only found in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It is known for its hard and durable timber. It is very similar to Albizia lebbeck,...

06 / 11 / 2017 | Tlou Moloto | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Aloe howmanii

Aloe howmanii
Common names: Howman’s cliff aloe (Eng.); waaier-grasaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

A rare, cliff-dwelling aloe, only known from sheer, south-facing cliffs of the Chimanimani Mountains near Chimanimani (formerly Melsetter), in eastern...

06 / 11 / 2017 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Pelargonium salmoneum

Pelargonium salmoneum
Common names: salmon pelargonium
Family: Geraniaceae

This amazing succulent, garden plant, sizzles from a sunny corner for most of the year with its salmon-pink flowers cheering up borders, pots, tubs, rockeries,...

30 / 10 / 2017 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Ledebouria confusa

Ledebouria confusa, a handsome and attractive plant for full sun.
Common names: grey-leaved African hyacinth
Family: Hyacinthaceae

A medium sized bulbous plant, which occurs across the Highveld areas of the North West, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga Provinces of South Africa. This...

30 / 10 / 2017 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Cleretum bellidiforme

Cleretum bellidiforme in cultivation (Graham Duncan).
Common names: Buckbay-vygie, Livingstone Bokbayfig, Livingstone Daisy (Eng.); bokbaaivygie, sandvygie, skilpadkos, ysplant (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

Cleretum bellidiforme, previously Dorotheanthus bellidiformis, is one of South Africa’s most famous wildflower exports, grown worldwide for its dazzling,...

23 / 10 / 2017 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Lasiosiphon rigidus

Lasiosiphon rigidus (John Manning)
Common names: none recorded
Family: Thymelaeaceae

A small-leaved shrublet with fragrant, bright chrome-yellow flowers surrounded by vivid yellow bracts, flushed with dark red....

23 / 10 / 2017 | Refilwe Kolokoto | Compton Herbarium
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Nemesia diffusa var. diffusa

Nemesia diffusa
Common names: white cape snapdragon (Eng.); witleeubekkie (Afr.)
Family: Scrophulariaceae

This beautiful, dainty little herb is covered in small, white flowers in spring and early summer, and makes a spectacular display in a mass planting....

16 / 10 / 2017 | Karen Wall | Harold Porter NBG
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Roosia lucilleae

The large rose-pink flowers of Roosia lucilleae. Note the persistent petals of the old flower.
Common names: Hex River cliff mesemb (Eng.); Heksrivier kransvygie (Afr.)
Family: Aizoaceae

One of two species belonging to the genus Roosia, endemic to sheer, quarzitic, sandstone cliff-faces in the heart of the winter-rainfall region of South...

16 / 10 / 2017 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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