There are many pretty species of Erica but only one truly bears the name: Erica pulchella. (“Pulchella” is the Latin diminutive for beautiful, i.e. pretty.) It forms low branched shrubs with numerous dense spikes of small purplish red urn-shaped flowers. It grows from the Cape Peninsula to Kogelberg, and along…
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 Green Heath, Erica sessiliflora, is one of the unmistakable heathers of the fynbos. With over 600 species of Erica in the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region it is not surprising to find that each species will share at least some characters in common with other species. Erica sessiliflora…
Monopsis is a genus closely related to Lobelia. It is a small genus of about 13 species confined to sub-Saharan Africa of which 8 are found in the Cape. All the species form small herbaceous plants with colourful flowers. There are two species in the Klein River Mountains, Monopsis lutea…
Pincushion proteas (Leucospermum) count as some of the most popular members of the Protea family (Proteaceae) for cut-flowers. However, there are a number of members of the genus Leucospermum that will never find their way into a cut-flower bouquet. This is because their stems are weak and trailing and their…
