Plants of the Week

Bauhinia bowkeri

Common names: Kei Bauhinia, Kei White Bauhinia (Eng.), Keibeesklou (Afr.), umDlandlovu (Xhosa)

Family: Fabaceae

A tall, graceful shrub with arching stems, decorative rounded foliage and fragrant white flowers in early summer, best in warm, dry gardens where frost...

24 / 12 / 2001 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Barringtonia racemosa

Common names: powderpuff tree (Eng.); poeierkwasboom (Afr.); iBhoqo (isiZulu)

Family: Lecythidaceae

This beautiful mangrove tree is easily recognized by its large leaves, delicate white flowers and guava-like fruit that hang in long racemes....

14 / 01 / 2008 | M Cheek | KwaZulu-Natal NBG

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

Barleria virgula

Common names: sand bush violet (Eng.); sandbosviooltjie (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

‘The drier I get, the better I flower!’...

13 / 03 / 2017 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria soutpansbergensis

Common names: Soutpansberg bush violet (Eng.); Soutpansberg-bosviooltjie (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

The Soutpansberg bush violet is a newly described species only known from the western Soutpansberg Centre of Plant Endemism, Limpopo Province, where it...

23 / 09 / 2024 | Ntsakisi Masia | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership

Barleria senensis

Common names: none recorded

Family: Acanthaceae

A hardy indigenous plant suitable for any sunny spot in your garden....

19 / 12 / 2011 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria scindens

Common names: none recorded

Family: Acanthaceae

Barleria scindens, not a very well known species in the genus, produces beautiful mauve flowers from February to July. It is ideal for sunny areas...

07 / 09 / 2009 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria saxatilis

Common names: rock bush violet (Eng.); rotsbosviooltjie (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

A late summer, early autumn splash of colour for a sunny garden. ...

12 / 12 / 2016 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria rotundifolia

Common names: spiny yellow barleria, thorny bush violet, yellow barleria (Eng.); geelbarleria (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

The spiny Barleria rotundifolia is an evergreen shrub that produces beautiful butter-yellow flowers from December to late summer, and is ideal...

13 / 11 / 2006 | Lou-nita LeRoux | Lowveld NBG

Barleria rogersii

Common names: Rogers' bushviolet

Family: Acanthaceae

To cover the bare sunny spots between rocks in your garden you need Barleria rogersii....

16 / 05 / 2011 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

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

Barleria rigida var. ilicina

Common names: Kalahari scorpion thistle (Eng.); skerpioendissel (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

A prickly barleria from the Kalahari, ideal for sunny rockeries and waterwise gardens, it is frost hardy and drought tolerant....

21 / 12 / 2017 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria randii

Common names: Matopos apricot barleria

Family: Acanthaceae

This barleria with its orange/yellow flowers and white leaf margins will be an attractive addition to a rock garden....

31 / 03 / 2014 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria quadriloba

Common names: Limpopo white barleria, Limpopo white bush violet (Eng.), Limpopo-witbosviooltjie (Afr.)

Family: Acanthaceae

A shrublet with white flowers in late summer, autumn and winter; it performs best in dry conditions and is recommended for sunny, water-wise gardens....

18 / 09 / 2017 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria oxyphylla

Common names: turf barleria

Family: Acanthaceae

Rare but interesting....

04 / 02 / 2019 | Willem Froneman | Lowveld NBG

Barleria ovata

Common names: grassland barleria (Eng.); iningizimebomvu (isiZulu)

Family: Acanthaceae

This barleria has pretty flowers which change colour and it resprouts from a woody rootstock after fire....

25 / 08 / 2014 | Mkhipheni Ngwenya | KwaZulu-Natal NBG

Barleria obtusa

Common names: bush violet, barleria (Eng.); bosviooltjie (Afr.); idololenkonyane (Zulu)

Family: Acanthaceae

Amongst the attractive red, bronze tints provided by tree foliage in autum, Barleria obtusa makes an even more spectacular show, when it is covered in...

14 / 05 / 2001 | Megan Isaacs | Kirstenbosch NBG