Plants of the Week

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E.g., 13/12/2024
E.g., 13/12/2024

Achyranthemum sordescens

Achyranthemum sordescens
Common names: dune chaff-flower
Family: Asteraceae

A very attractive, clump-forming everlasting, with silky, recurved leaves and stunning yellow flowerheads. ...

30 / 11 / 2020 | Vathiswa Zikishe | CREW
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Aloe gerstneri

Aloe gerstneri
Common names: gerstner’s aloe (Eng.); isihlabana (Zul.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

The regal Aloe gerstneri stands tall, with an orange ombre inflorescence, in its natural habitat, the rocky grasslands. ...

21 / 12 / 2020 | Kaveesha Naicker | CREW
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Aloe meyeri

Aloe meyeri
Common names: Rosyntjiesberg aloe (Eng.); rosyntjiesberg-aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

A rare, small, cliff-dwelling aloe with drooping rosettes of greyish green leaves and simple inflorescences of small, tubular, orange-red flowers with...

04 / 01 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe dabenorisana

Aloe dabenorisana
Common names: Dabenoris aloe, Pella aloe (Eng.); pella-aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe dabenorisana is a rare, medium-sized, cluster-forming, cliff-dwelling aloe, up to 300 mm high, with short, sometimes drooping stems and leaves in...

11 / 01 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe framesii

Aloe framesii
Common names: Strandveld speckled aloe (Eng.); strandveld gespikkelde-aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

This attractive aloe will enhance contrast in any garden setup with its colourful flowers and astonishing leaves, which are covered with many spots and...

18 / 01 / 2021 | Ricardo Riddles | Karoo Desert NBG
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Aloe pavelkae

Aloe pavelkae
Common names: Hunsberg aloe (Eng.); hunsberg-aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe pavelkae is a rare, medium-sized, cliff-dwelling aloe, with drooping rosettes of green leaves. It is cluster-forming, with the stems becoming pendent,...

18 / 01 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe omavandae

Aloe omavandae
Common names: Omavanda aloe (Eng.); omavanda-aalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe omavandae is a rare, medium-sized, cliff-hanger aloe, with a drooping rosette of faintly spotted, greyish green leaves and a branched, rarely simple...

25 / 01 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe neilcrouchii

Aloe neilcrouchii
Common names: Karkloof grass aloe (Eng.); karkloof grasaalwyn (Afr.); inhlaba (Zul.); inkalane (Xho.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe neilcrouchii is the largest and the most robust of the grass aloes (section Leptoaloe), with long, leafless stems, rosettes of white-spotted leaves...

08 / 02 / 2021 | Bathabile Ndlovu | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Aloe kouebokkeveldensis

Aloe kouebokkeveldensis
Common names: Kouebokkeveld aloe (Eng.); kouebokkeveldaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe kouebokkeveldensis is a rare, medium-sized, cliff-squatting aloe with a decumbent to ascending rosette of faintly spotted, striate, pale-green leaves...

08 / 02 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Acalypha punctata

Acalypha punctata
Common names: sticky brooms and brushes (Eng.); umsongo (Swa.); usunundu (Zul.)
Family: Euphorbiaceae

An unusual herbaceous perennial, with a distinctive and very strong scent, not common in commercial horticulture....

05 / 04 / 2021 | Sicelo Sithole | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe grandidentata

Aloe grandidentata
Common names: dwarf soap aloe (Eng.); bontaalwyn, kleinbontaalwyn, kanniedood (Afr.); lekghala (Sso.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

A low-growing, cluster-forming aloe with attractive, white-spotted leaves and tall inflorescences of pinkish red, tubular flowers in early spring; well...

05 / 04 / 2021 | Samuel Lekhetho | Free State NBG
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Acmadenia alternifolia

Acmadenia alternifolia
Common names: Knysna porcelain flower (Eng.); Knysna-duineboegoe (Afr.)
Family: Rutaceae

A robust, fine-textured, floriferous, aromatic shrublet from the fynbos....

12 / 07 / 2021 | Roger Oliver | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Anemone bracteata

Anemone bracteata
Common names: blistering leaves (Eng.), brandblaar (Afr.), umvuthuza (isiZulu), umvuthuza (isiXhosa)
Family: Ranunculaceae

Anemone bracteata is an understory plant, with densely hairy stems and leaf stalks, and greenish white flowers in summer; the whole plant is harvested...

12 / 07 / 2021 | Lungisani Zondi | Walter Sisulu NBG
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Abrus laevigatus

Abrus laevigatus
Common names: luckybean creeper (Eng.); minnaarsboontjie, minnie-minnies (Afr.); umphitsi (isiZulu)
Family: Fabaceae

Luckybean creeper is a climbing shrub, with long, slender stems, mauve to cream flowers in summer, and brown or black seeds. It is widespread in South...

02 / 08 / 2021 | T.T. Masupa | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Aloe dewinteri

Aloe dewinterii
Common names: Sesfontein Aloe (Eng.); Sesfonteinaalwyn (Afr.).
Family: Asphodelaceae

Aloe dewinteri is at once distinguished by its stemless rosettes of grey-green to whitish green, spreading leaves, and 3-branched inflorescences bearing...

06 / 09 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe corallina

Aloe corallina
Common names: Kunene coral aloe (Eng.), Kunene-koraalaalwyn, Kunene-kransaalwyn (Afr.)
Family: Asphodelaceae

The Kunene coral aloe is at once distinguished by its pendent rosettes of grey-green, unarmed leaves, and coral-red, tubular flowers, 32 mm long, in a...

27 / 09 / 2021 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Aloe simii

Aloe simii
Common names: Sim’s aloe
Family: Asphodelaceae

A beautiful, stemless aloe, with a rosette of broad, milky-green leaves and eye-catching strawberry pink flowers in summer; a rare and endangered endemic...

20 / 12 / 2021 | Winfred Velephi Ngwenya | Lowveld NBG
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Adenia fruticosa subsp. fruticosa

Adenia fruticosa
Common names: Sekhukhune greenstem, greenstem (Eng.); sekoekoenie-bobbejaangif (Afr.).
Family: Passifloraceae

Adenia fruticosa is one of the succulent plants that is easily recognised by its very attractive, tuberous, swollen, green stem, sometimes splitting into...

27 / 12 / 2021 | Nomndeni Nkosi | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Argyrolobium robustum

Argyrolobium robustum
Common names: liquorice bean (Eng.), soethoutbossie (Afr.), umuzimuka (Zul.)
Family: Fabaceae

Argyrolobium robustum is an attractive plant with many-flowered, yellow flower-heads that are produced from spring to early summer; common in grasslands...

31 / 01 / 2022 | Thembeka Malwane | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Allium synnotii

Allium synnotii
Common names: wild onion, Cape onion (Eng.), ajuin, wilde-ajuin, ajuintjie, berg-ajuin (Afr.)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

The wild onion (Allium synnotii) grows widespread in the drier regions of the winter-rainfall region. Plants are usually solitary, but grow in groups,...

24 / 05 / 2022 | Ernst van Jaarsveld | Kirstenbosch NBG
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