The common name Milkweed is often used for plants of the Apocynaceae family that produce milky sap. It is most frequently applied to members of the genus Asclepias. The genus Asclepias is a cosmopolitan genus that at different times has been split up into numerous smaller genera. Currently three species…
As plant names go, few can be as tautological as Erica ericoides. This name means the “heath that looks like a heath”; hardly the most enlightening of descriptions. The reason for this lack of imagination is because at one time the large Cape genus Erica was subdivided into many smaller…
February and March are the months for April Fools at Phillipskop. Or to be more helpful, they are the months when two different species, Haemanthus coccineus and Haemanthus sanguineus, come into flower. Both are commonly known as April Fools, though the name is not especially apt as they are frequently…
In the shimmering heat of summer, the spikes of Watsonia schlechteri appear as beacons amongst the fynbos. Often producing a single spike of up to 30 large trumpet-shaped lurid orange-scarlet flowers, the individual plants can be spotted from considerable distance across the mountain slopes. While this certainly attracts the attention…
The Bloukanol, Aristea bakeri and Aristea capitata, are two plants that no-one can miss when the the flowers are open. Standing proud of the fynbos, they produce tall spikes of large deep blue flowers. This has given them another common name, Blouvuurpyl or Blue Rocket. No other fynbos plant comes…
Whatever time of the year you visit Phillipskop there is a wide variety of beautiful flowers to see. However, because of the diversity, it can sometimes become bewildering even to know where to start. We have therefore created a series of Plant Spotter Guides for Phillipskop to help guests and…
