One of the challenges of identifying species in the fynbos is that sometimes very different looking plants are classified under the same species. This is not surprising when species have a wide distribution range, but is more challenging when they grow in close proximity. This variation may be just due…
One of our most beautiful plants at Phillipskop and indeed in the Cape flora itself is Nerine sarniensis. But both the scientific name and the common name, Guernsey Lily (Sarnia is the Latin for the English Channel island of Guernsey), are decidely inappropriate for a species confined to the Western…
The genus Wachendorfia consists of four species found exclusively in the Greater Cape Floristic Region. All four of them also occur at Phillipskop. The genus is easily identified on account of the strongly pleated lanceolate leaves, and many-flowered inflorescences of apricot to yellow flowers. A more unusual feature of Wachendorfia…
The bright pink Ixia stricta, with its contrasting yellow anthers, appears towards the end of the season of spring bulbs in the Overberg. The stem is very thin and delicate, like most Ixia species, yet it holds itself quite upright. From this habit it gets its name, “stricta”. Stricta is…
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…
Not all special plants are bold and beautiful. We found this Wurmbea glassii the other day. It is no more than a couple of centimetres high. The minute flowers are a greenish yellow and it took a second-look to realise that we were not looking at a small grass or…
