Plants of the Week

Ursinia cakilefolia

Common names: Glansoogbergmagriet, Glossy-eyed parachute daisy

Family: Asteraceae

Bright and cheerful, the annual ursinias are some of the easiest plants to grow for spring colour. ...

15 / 10 / 2001 | Liesl Van der Walt | Kirstenbosch NBG

Crinum bulbispermum

Common names: Orange River lily, Vaal River lily (Eng.); Oranjerivierlelie (Afr.); umnduze (Zulu).

Family: Amaryllidaceae

Crinum bulbispermum is a highly attractive garden subject and can be grown all over South Africa provided it is given adequate water during its growing...

15 / 10 / 2001 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Scadoxus puniceus

Common names: Paintbrush lily, Snake lily (E), Rooikwas (Afr), isisphompho, umgola (Z)

Family: Amaryllidaceae

The spectacular paintbrush lily is one of South Africa's most striking bulbous plants. This species is quite variable and a number of different forms...

08 / 10 / 2001 | Sharon Turner | Walter Sisulu NBG

Pelargonium betulinum

Common names: camphor-scented pelargonium, birch-leaved pelargonium (Eng.); kanferblaar, maagpynbossie, suurbos (Afr.)

Family: Geraniaceae

Pelargonium betulinum is dazzling in full flower, deserving of a place in any garden....

08 / 10 / 2001 | Ebrahim Lawrence | Kirstenbosch NBG

Mackaya bella

Common names: mackaya, forest bell-bush, river bells, beautiful mackaya (Eng.); bosklokkiesbos, blouklokkiesbos (Afr.); umavuthwa, uzwathi, uphulule, icaphozi (Zul.

Family: Acanthaceae

A graceful shrub or small tree with slender branches bearing glossy, dark green leaves and beautiful sprays of showy, white to mauve, bell-shaped flowers...

01 / 10 / 2001 | Thompson T Mutshinyalo | Walter Sisulu NBG

Leucadendron laxum

Common names: Bredasdorp conebush (Eng.); vleirosie (Afr.).

Family: Proteaceae

...

01 / 10 / 2001 | Hanneke Jamieson | Kirstenbosch NBG

Tapinanthus rubromarginatus

Common names: red mistletoe, bird lime, lighted candles; voelent, vuurhoutijies (A)

Family: Loranthaceae

This is a semi-parasitic aerial shrub with specialized roots called haustoria that grow into the wood of the host plant and extracts oil minerals...

24 / 09 / 2001 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Lachenalia mathewsii

Common names: none on record

Family: Hyacinthaceae

Lachenalia mathewsii is an attractive, deciduous, winter-growing bulb, standing 10-20 cm tall....

24 / 09 / 2001 | Alice Notten | Kirstenbosch NBG

Pelargonium suburbanum subsp. suburbanum

Common names: dune pelargonium (Eng.) wildemalva

Family: Geraniaceae

A groundcover with showy magenta flowers in spring and early summer, ideal for sandy banks, rockeries and hanging baskets. Many species and hybrids of Pelargonium are...

17 / 09 / 2001 | Hanneke Jamieson | Kirstenbosch NBG

Dombeya rotundifolia

Common names: wild pear (English); drolpeer (Afrikaans); iNhliziyonkhulu (Zulu); mohlabaphala (N. Sotho); motubane (Tswana); nsihaphukuma (Tsonga)

Family: Malvaceae

This lovely tree gets its English common name, wild pear, from the masses of white blooms which appear before the leaves in early spring. It bears a resemblance...

17 / 09 / 2001 | Alice Aubrey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Freylinia tropica

Common names: Waterberg bell-bush, blue honey-bell, blue freylinia (Eng.), inyanga hedge plant (Shona)

Family: Scrophulariaceae

This shrub makes a good garden subject for summer rainfall areas....

10 / 09 / 2001 | Thompson T Mutshinyalo | Walter Sisulu NBG

Felicia elongata

Common names: Saldanha felicia, tricolour felicia (Eng.), driekleurblommetjie (Afr.)

Family: Asteraceae

Felicia elongata is a striking perennial daisy, with large white or mauve flowers. What makes this Felicia so different from the other felicias, is the...

10 / 09 / 2001 | Liesl Van der Walt | Kirstenbosch NBG

Schotia brachypetala

Common names: weeping boer-bean, tree fuchsia, African walnut (Eng.); huilboerboon (Afr.); umfofofo, umgxam, ishimnumyane (Xhosa), ihluze, umgxamu, uvovovo (Zulu),

Family: Fabaceae

A handsome tree with a wide-spreading, rounded crown, and bright red, nectar-filled flowers in spring and early summer that attract many birds and insects;...

03 / 09 / 2001 | Giles Mbambezeli | Kirstenbosch NBG

Erythrina acanthocarpa

Common names: Tambookie Thorn, Tambuki Thorn (Eng.), Tamboekiedoring, Tamboekiewortel, Wag-'n-Bietjiedoring (Afr.)

Family: Fabaceae

This is a very attractive shrub with striking red and green flowers....

03 / 09 / 2001 | Sharon Turner | Walter Sisulu NBG

Veltheimia bracteata

Common names: forest lily, forest sand-lily, winter red hot poker (Eng.); sandui, sandlelie (Afr.)

Family: Hyacinthaceae

Veltheimia bracteata is a beautiful deciduous bulb with a moderate to fast growth rate. The inflorescence is a dense raceme of tubular flowers carried...

27 / 08 / 2001 | Trevor Adams | Kirstenbosch NBG

Acokanthera oppositifolia

Common names: Bushman's Poison; Boesmansgif (Afrikaans); inHlungunyembe (Zulu); iNtlungunyembe (Xhosa)

Family: Apocynaceae

The Bushman's poison is a medium to large woody shrub with attractive hard dark green leaves. ...

27 / 08 / 2001 | Andrew Hankey | Walter Sisulu NBG

Hermannia saccifera

Common names: cumin hermannia (Eng.); komynbossie (Afr.)

Family: Malvaceae

Hermannia saccifera is fairly widespread along the southern coast of South Africa, where it occurs on stony clay slopes from the Riviersonderend mountains...

20 / 08 / 2001 | Bernard Brown | Kirstenbosch NBG