Plants of the Week

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E.g., 25/11/2024
E.g., 25/11/2024

Withania somnifera

Withania somnifera leaves and fruit
Common names: winter cherry (Eng.); bitterappelliefie, geneesblaarbossie, koorshout (Afr.); bofepha (Sotho); ubuvuma (Xhosa); ubuvimbha (Zulu); ashwagandha (Hindi).
Family: Solanaceae

Fruits of this plant were found in a floral collar of the innermost coffin of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. (Mabberley 2008 : 911)....

05 / 12 / 2011 | M Welman | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Witsenia maura

Witsenia maura. Photo J Manning
Common names: Bokmakierie's tail (Eng.); waaiertjie (Afr.)
Family: Iridaceae

This plant is one of the most striking woody iris shrubs; very different from the familiar herbaceous genera such as the Iris and Gladiolus, but equally...

09 / 06 / 2003 | Antonia Xaba | Harold Porter NBG
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Wurmbea elatior

Wurmbea elatior
Common names: pepper-and-salt flower (Eng.); sout-en-peper-blommetjie (Afr.); khahlana-ea-loti (seSotho)
Family: Colchicaceae

Wurmbea elatior is an attractive plant with striking white flowers marked with dark reddish purple and can be easily identified by its musky smell....

12 / 06 / 2023 | Sibahle Gumede | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Wurmbea marginata

Common names: Spider lily (Eng.), Swartkoppie (Afr.)
Family: Colchicaceae

...

13 / 06 / 2011 | Olivia Tyambetyu | Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
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Wurmbea stricta

Wurmbea stricta
Common names: vleiblommetjie (Afr.)
Family: Colchicaceae

Scantily known in cultivation, the starry pink-and-white flowers of this easily grown cormous plant really deserve a place in containers, shallow garden...

27 / 06 / 2005 | Graham Duncan | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Xanthocercis zambesiaca

Xanthocercis zambesiaca
Common names: nyala tree (Eng.); njalaboom, hoenderspoor (Afr.); moladi (Setswana); umhlwati (siSwati); mutshato (Tshivenda)
Family: Fabaceae

This is a large impressive, evergreen tree with an exceptional dense, rounded to wide-spreading crown of glossy, drooping, dark green leaves and sprays...

17 / 06 / 2019 | Winfred Velephi Ngwenya | Lowveld NBG
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Xerophyta retinervis

Xerophyta retinervis in flower
Common names: black-stick lily ( Eng.); besembos, bobbejaanstert (Afr.); sifunti (Swazi); isigqumana, isiphmba (Zulu)
Family: Velloziaceae

Xerophyta retinervis is a fascinating plant with blackened stems in the winter months but totally transformed in the early summer when covered with...

02 / 06 / 2008 | Isabel Johnson | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Ximenia americana var. microphylla

Ximenia americana var. microphylla
Common names: small blue sourplum (Eng.); kleinblousuurpruim (Afr.); ukolotshane, umtunduluka-omncane, umkholotshwana (Zul.);umtfundvuluka, umthunduluka (Swa.); nt
Family: Olacaceae

A spiny shrub of African savannas that bears brightly coloured, edible fruits, and has a long history of medicinal value for traditional healers and western...

20 / 07 / 2020 | Mpho Mathalauga | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Ximenia caffra

Ximenia caffra © Geoff Nichols
Common names: large sourplum (Eng.); grootsuurpruim (Afr.); umThunduluka-obmvu (Zulu); Morokologa (Northern Sotho)
Family: Olacaceae

The large sourplum is a small tree or shrub with many traditional uses and colourful fruit. It is suited to growing in a bush clump or as part of a boundary...

23 / 08 / 2004 | J K Baloyi | Pretoria NBG
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Xylia torreana

Xylia torreana
Common names: hairy sand-ash (Eng.); harige sandessenhout (Afr.)
Family: Fabaceae

An attractive deciduous tree with fragrant yellow flowers in little balls in early summer, followed by large, woody pods....

24 / 12 / 2018 | Sephatle Evans Molekoa | Lowveld NBG
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Xylotheca kraussiana

Male flower X. kraussiana  © Geoff Nichols
Common names: African dog rose (Eng.); umbalekani, isishwashwa (Zulu); umdubu (Xhosa); Afrikaanse hondsroos (Afr.)
Family: Achariaceae

The African dog rose, Xylotheca kraussiana, is a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree that forms a good focal point in a garden with its beautiful flowers...

02 / 08 / 2004 | R Williams | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium
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Xyris capensis

Xyris capensis (Graham Grieve)
Common names: Cape yellow-eyed grass, common xyris (Eng.); hloho-tsa-makaka, kaka-hlothona (Sesotho); umuzi (SiSwati); udoyi oluncane (isiZulu)
Family: Xyridaceae

Xyris capensis is a perennial grass-like plant growing from a more or less creeping rhizome. Its yellow flowers are clustered in a roundish spike which...

18 / 01 / 2016 | Aluwani Tshiila | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium
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Xysmalobium involucratum

Flowers
Common names: scented xysmalobium (Eng.); hongersnoodwortel, hongersnoodbossie, melkbossie (Afr.); udambisomkhulu, udelunina (isiZulu)
Family: Apocynaceae

The long, narrow, green leaves make Xysmalobium involucratum inconspicuous in unburned grassy areas unless it is flowering. In grasslands that are grazed...

15 / 11 / 2004 | Mkhipheni Ngwenya | KwaZulu-Natal NBG
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Xysmalobium pedifoetidum

Flower head
Common names: northern red-flowered cartwheel
Family: Apocynaceae

Despite the fact that Xysmalobium pedifoetidum is the most recently described member in its genus, it has been known by taxonomists for more than 50 years....

29 / 07 / 2013 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Xysmalobium undulatum

Xysmalobium undulatum flowers
Common names: milk bush, milkwort, uzura, wild cotton, wave-leaved xysmalobium (Eng.); bitterhout, bitterwortel, bitterhoutwortel, melkbos (Afr.); leshokoa, poho-tÂ
Family: Apocynaceae

The wave-leaved xysmalobium is a well-known feature of the verges of most of the highways in the grassland biome during November and December. Initially...

29 / 12 / 2008 | Stoffel Petrus Pieter Bester | National Herbarium Pretoria
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Zaluzianskya capensis

Flowers open in evening
Common names: drumsticks (Eng.); verfblommetjie (Afr.)
Family: Marsileaceae

This plant fills the evening air with a sweet fragrance that will give you joy from May to November. The flowers open towards the evening and remain open...

01 / 07 / 2013 | Benjamin Festus | Harold Porter NBG
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Zaluzianskya microsiphon

Zaluzianskya microsiphon
Common names: two-lipped drumsticks (Eng.); malthungthung (Southern Sotho)
Family: Scrophulariaceae

A day-flowering species with strongly zygomorphic, unscented flowers....

04 / 01 / 2021 | Xichavo Mathebula | Compton Herbarium
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Zaluzianskya villosa

Zaluzianskya villosa
Common names: downy drumsticks (Eng.); verfblommetjie (Afr.)
Family: Scrophulariaceae

These small, dainty, white to mauve flowered annuals can be seen in spring and early summer in the Western Cape of South Africa. Unlike Zaluzianskya capensis,...

11 / 12 / 2023 | Karen Wall | Kirstenbosch NBG
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Zantedeschia

Zantedeschia cut flowers
Common names: arum lilies, calla lilies, pig lily (Eng.); varkblom (Afr.)
Family: Araceae

Clump-forming perennials, cherished around the globe for their lush foliage and ornate blooms of white, yellow, pink and red....

19 / 11 / 2012 | Yashica Singh | KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium
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Zantedeschia aethiopica

Zantedeschia aethiopica
Common names: White or common arum lily (English); wit varkoor (Afrikaans); intebe (Xhosa) ihlukwe (Zulu)

Zantedeschia aethiopica is an old fashioned, but very rewarding garden plant....

05 / 11 / 2001 | Alice Aubrey | Walter Sisulu NBG
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