November 8, 2023

The Bush Tick-berry

Osteospermum moniliferum. The pretty flowers are attractive to insects, especially butterflies, but when the fruit gets ripe it becomes the turn of many garden birds! The Bush Tick-berry Thesecondplantinthisseries,the Bush Tick-berry Osteospermummoniliferum (previously known as Chrysanthemoidesmonilifera), hasbeenselectedto satisfy impatient gardeners or those with new gardens. This is because it can be relied upon to produce […]

The Bush Tick-berry Read More »

Haemanthus

PLANT OF THE MONTH By Geoff Nichols Haemanthus albiflos; White Paint Brush; Witpoeierkwas (Afrikaans) licishamlilo (Siswati); uzaneke, uzeneke (Zulu) This plant is heavily utilised by traditional healers and herb gatherers for use in traditional medicine. It has declined in the wild, where it occurs on our eastern seaboard in coastal thickets and drier forests from

Haemanthus Read More »

Aneilema

PLANT OF THE MONTH By Geoff Nichols Aneilema aequinoctiale; ClingingAneilema; idangaban e elikhulu (Zulu) This is the cousin of last month’s Blue flowered Aneilema. This plant is more common in the damper edges of forest, and with us here in KwaZulu-Natal, it is found in swamp forest. The first time you’ll notice it is when

Aneilema Read More »