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…
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…
Despite their name the majority of everlasting flowers are finished by mid-summer. They remain on the bush but their glory has faded. The autumn-flowering Syncarpha canescens, Pienksewejaartjie, however starts flowering in April and continues on into July. It is not as bold and noticeable in the fynbos as its cousins,…
As names go, Dogface is not a flattering one. Yet this rather derogatory name is given to an endearing shrub, Trichocephalus stipularis, which should be welcome in any garden. The unfortunate common name, Hondegesiggie in Afrikaans, is a reference to the fruiting heads. These apparently, though I don’t see it…
One of the most noticeable species on the reserve in autumn is Stoebe capitata. It is common plant of the disturbed fynbos at the side of the entrance road. It lines each side of the track with low bushes covered in a mass of pink pompom flowers. They start flowering…
