Plants of the Week

Passerina filiformis subsp. filiformis

Common names: bakkerbos (Afr.)

Family: Thymelaeaceae

Passerina filiformis subsp. filiformis is a shrub growing up to 2 m. It is currently quite scarce in the Cape Peninsula, but a healthy community of these...

25 / 10 / 2004 | Christien Bredenkamp | National Herbarium Pretoria

Crinum moorei

Common names: Natal lily, Moore's crinum, Ngomi lily, Inanda lily (Eng.); boslelie, Natallelie, Ngomilelie, rivierlelie (Afr.); umnduze (Zulu)

Family: Amaryllidaceae

The Natal lily, Crinum moorei, with its large, white to pinkish red, open tubular flowers, literally glows in the dappled shade of the century-old...

25 / 10 / 2004 | S Khanyile | KwaZulu-Natal NBG

Buddleja glomerata

Common names: Karoo sagewood, sneezebush, cockroach (Eng.); Karoo-salie, kakkerlak, hoesbos, niesbos (Afr.)

Family: Scrophulariaceae

The Karoo sagewood is an attractive foliage plant with silvery, scalloped leaves and heads of yellow flowers during spring and summer. It forms a small...

25 / 10 / 2004 | Norma Jodamus | Kirstenbosch NBG

Pelargonium tetragonum

Common names: square-stemmed pelargonium

Family: Geraniaceae

With its square, jointed, succulent stems, this fascinating pelargonium could easily mislead the casual observer into mistaking it for a member of the...

18 / 10 / 2004 | T Hutton-squire | Kirstenbosch NBG

Passerina ericoides

Common names: Christmas berry (Eng.); dronkbessie (Afr.)

Family: Thymelaeaceae

It is a most exhilarating experience seeing Passerina ericoides growing on cliff faces at Cape Point and overlooking the vast Atlantic Ocean, with branchlets...

18 / 10 / 2004 | Christien Bredenkamp | Pretoria NBG

Harpephyllum caffrum

Fruits of H caffrum: Photo Geoff Nichols

Common names: wild plum (Eng.); wildepruim, suurbessie, gwenjabessie (Afr.); umgwenya (Zulu, Xhosa); mothekele (Northern Sotho)

Family: Anacardiaceae

This is an attractive evergreen tree that is useful as an ornamental garden tree and for attracting birds and butterflies into the garden.It is popularly...

18 / 10 / 2004 | Mhlonishwa D Dlamini | Walter Sisulu NBG

Phoenix reclinata

Common names: wild date palm (Eng.); wilde-dadelboom (Afr.); mopalamo (Northern Sotho); moséfa (Tswana); isundu (Xhosa, Zulu)

Family: Arecaceae

This graceful palm with its characteristic slender, leaning stems is a feature of riverine bush and forest in the eastern parts of the country. It is almost...

11 / 10 / 2004 | Alice Aubrey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Hyacinthaceae

Common names: hyacinth family

Family: Hyacinthaceae

This is a family of 700-900 species of deciduous, or rarely evergreen, bulbous plants, several with brightly coloured flowers, that is well represented...

11 / 10 / 2004 | John Manning | Compton Herbarium

Greyia radlkoferi

Common names: woolly bottlebrush, Transvaal bottlebrush, wild bottlebrush (Eng.); wollerige baakhout (Afr.); isidwadwa (Zulu); inhlazane, indlebelembila (Swazi)

Family: Melianthaceae

The gnarled branches of Greyia radlkoferi make this small tree or shrub an attractive structural element for any garden. In nature, growing in misty gullies...

11 / 10 / 2004 | De La Cruz P | Kirstenbosch NBG

Spirostachys africana

Common names: tamboti (Eng.); tambotie (Afr.); umThombothi (Zulu); Modiba (Northern Sotho); umThombotsi (siSwati); Ndzopfori (Tsonga); Morukuru (Tswana); Muonze (ts

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Renowned for its beautiful wood, Spirostachys africana is a medium-sized, semi-deciduous tree with a round crown which occurs in low altitude bushveld,...

04 / 10 / 2004 | Avhurengwi Phillemon Ndou | Walter Sisulu NBG

Rhodocoma capensis

Family: Restionaceae

A very elegant reed-like plant with slightly arching branches which have whorls of finely divided, feathery looking foliage. This species can be grown...

04 / 10 / 2004 | Hanneke Jamieson | Kirstenbosch NBG

Lessertia

Family: Fabaceae

This group of plants, which now includes Sutherlandia (the cancer bush group), is reported to be useful medicinally and also good for pasture....

04 / 10 / 2004 | Tandiwe Nkonki | National Herbarium Pretoria

Strelitzia juncea

Common names: rush-leaf crane flower, rush-leaf strelitzia (Eng.); rietkraanvoëlblom, riet-strelitzia (Afr.)

Family: Strelitziaceae

This is a striking feature plant with upright cylindrical leaves without a leaf blade, growing from 1 to 2 m in height and producing large orange or yellow...

27 / 09 / 2004 | John Winter | Kirstenbosch NBG

Tulbaghia violacea

Common names: wild garlic, society garlic (Eng.); wildeknoffel, wildeknoflok (Afr.); utswelane (Xho.); isihaqa, incinsini, (Zul.)

Family: Alliaceae

This is a popular garden plant that is useful for difficult hot corners of the garden as it will tolerate prolonged drought, although it flourishes with...

27 / 09 / 2004 | Shireen Harris | Free State NBG

Campanulaceae

Common names: bell flower, bluebell family (Eng.); klokkiesfamilie (Afr.)

Family: Campanulaceae

This is a cosmopolitan family with showy flowers, mainly from the northern hemisphere, but in the southern hemisphere South Africa is particularly rich...

27 / 09 / 2004 | C Cupido | Compton Herbarium

Melianthus comosus

Common names: crown honeyflower (Eng); kruidjie-roer-my -nie (Afr.)

Family: Melianthaceae

Melianthus comosus is an ideal plant for a low-maintenance, waterwise garden, but it does need to be pruned to keep it neat and to encourage new growth....

20 / 09 / 2004 | Shireen Harris | Free State NBG

Crinum

Common names: river lily, veld lily (Eng.); rivierlelie, veldlelie (Afr.); umNduze (Zulu)

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Crinum is a fascinating genus of the large and equally captivating Amaryllidaceae family. Larger in stature than most other species of Amaryllidaceae,...

20 / 09 / 2004 | Robert Archer | National Herbarium Pretoria

Aloe africana

Common names: Uitenhage Aloe, African Aloe (Eng.), Uitenhaagsaalwyn (Afr.), Ikhala (Xhosa)

Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe africana is a very attractive aloe which adapts to a wide range of conditions. Aloes are characteristic of the African continent where most species...

20 / 09 / 2004 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG

Syzygium cordatum

Common names: water berry (Eng.); waterbessie, waterbessieboom, waterboom, waterhout (Afr.); umdoni (Zulu); umswi, umjomi (Xhosa), mawthoo (Southern Sotho), motlho

Family: Myrtaceae

...

13 / 09 / 2004 | Berenice Carolus | Harold Porter NBG

Cyrtanthus falcatus

Family: Amaryllidaceae

This beautiful cyrtanthus with its curious 'shepherd's crook' flower stem and long arching leaves is very easily cultivated and deserves to...

13 / 09 / 2004 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG

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