Small white candles of Bulbinella trinervis have appeared scattered through the fynbos. Their slender columns of starry white flowers top a leafless flowering stem that is hard to detect. The flowers belie the genus’s close relationship to their bold bright cousin, the red-hot pokers, Kniphofia. However, the larger species do…
The common name vygie is used for members of the Aizoaceae with showy daisy-like flowers. The name, prounounced “fay-gh-ee”, comes from the Afrikaans for “little fig”. The seedpods do look rather fig-like, especially those belonging to the genus Carpobrotus, which are fleshy and have numerous small seeds inside. Most vygies…
It is difficult to capture on camera the essence of some plants. The flowers can be separated from the leaves, which might be hidden by surrounding foliage or the flowers may be so diffuse on a plant that one can only focus on a single flower at a time. One…
A waterlily needs no introduction. It must be one of the first plants that children become familiar with. Whether through reading fairy tales about princesses and frogs or Beatrix Potter’s Jeremy Fisher, a lily pad is standard ingredient of ponds in children’s books. Furthermore, waterlilies are a feature of ponds,…
Gladiolus is not the first flower that one thinks of when asked to name a flower with good scent. It is true that the large florists’ gladioli have no scent to speak of, but many of the smaller flowered species have very attractive scent. At this time of the year,…
The genus Crassula contains a diverse range of succulent plants. They are sometimes known in South Africa as stonecrops but that common name is usually used for the related genus Sedum. Here at Phillipskop we have a Crassula that supposedly looks like an Erica; at least that is what its…
