Articles by Geoff Nichols

PLANT OF THE MONTH By Geoff Nichols Bachmannia woodii; Four-finger Bush, Viervingerbos (Afrikaans); umPhunzisa, umTswantswantsa (Xhosa) This plant was in the family Capparaceae (Capers) but has now been changed to the family Brassicaceae (Cabbages). It is a multi-stemmed, understorey shrub, unique to the coastal and mist belt forests of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique […]

PLANT OF THE MONTH By Geoff Nichols Scadoxus multiflorus subsp. Katharinae. Swamp Forest Snake Lily; Blood Flower; Bloedblom (Afrikaans): idunjana(Zulul A coastal species, occurring mainly in swamp forests along the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coasts, this is arguably the showiest of our local snake lilies. When this snake lily was discovered in about 1877, it

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

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