Shrubs

Adenium multiflorum

Botanical name	Adenium multflorum
Other names	Impala lily, impalalelie (Afrikaans); adenium obesum
Family	Apocynaceae
Dimensions	A thick-stemmed, sometimes multistemmed succulent shrub, deciduous (or semi-deciduous in warmer areas); around 1,5 m, occasionally double that height
Description of stem	A squat, succulent stem, tapering upwards with a smooth light grey surface
Description of leaves	Simple, alternate or spiralling, towards the end of the otherwise bare branches; fleshy, obovate, dark green, pale below, midrib prominent on the lower surface; apex rounded, margin entire
Description of flowers	Abundant white or pink flowers with bright pink borders at the outer edges of the petals, floral parts in fives, bisexual; distinctive vertical maroon stripes occur at the throat of the trumpet; some colour variations occur; a very striking sighting in its natural surroundings in winter when the abundance of flowers adorn the leafless stems
Desciption of seed/fruit	Paired, cylindrical, over 20 cm long, hairy, turning brown when mature; splits open to release more than 50 long thin seeds with hairy tufts at the ends
Description of roots	Thick underground stems
Variation	Several subspecies occur throughout Africa and Arabia; variations multiplied in cultivation; some writers separate A. multiflorum and A. obesum
Propagation and cultivation	Grown from seed or cuttings in spring, best in semi-arid conditions, high temperatures, full sun, well-drained sandy soil, watered in similar way as cacti; seedlings have been reported to flower within a year
Tolerances	Can endure drought or periods of cold-induced dormancy
Uses	Popular in xeriscaping, as a container plant and succulent gardens in many parts of the world, e.g. the Far East and the USA; toxic sap, used to poison fish and arrow-heads for hunting; browsed by game, maybe kudu and baboons, sometimes by livestock although toxic for cattle and goats
Ecological rarity	Said to be not threatened in South Africa; it is on the Red Data lists of Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Zambia
Pests and diseases	Said to be plagued by some insects in cultivation
Other
Location	Savanna grassland in semi-tropical areas, sandy and rock areas
Distribution (SA provinces)	Mpumalanga, Limpopo
Country	South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya and northwards up to some Middle Eastern countries, westward to Senegal
	(Information received from Johan Wentzel)

Adenium multiflorum flower: Photographed by Ricky Mauer

Adenium multiflorum: Photographedby Ricky Mauer

Asclepias fruticosa

Botanical name	Asclepias fruticosa
Other names	Milkweed; wild cotton; swan plant; melkbos (Afrikaans); tontelbos (Afrikaans)
Family	Asclepiadaceae/ Apocynaceae
Dimensions	Small evergreen perennial shrub, usually around 1 m to 1,5 m in height; exudes a milky latex
Description of stem	Erect, straight, light green stem that tends to branch higher up only; turns grey to brown in mature specimens
Description of leaves	Simple, lanceolate to linear, alternate, glabrous, light green; margin entire, apex sharply pointed
Description of flowers	Axillary umbels of 5 to 10 creamy white flowers; lobed and reflexed corolla around laterally flattened corona lobes
Desciption of seed/fruit	Inflated green and later light brown, papery pod or follicle; short bristly hair cover the outer surface; dark seeds have silvery cotton wool-like attachments that facilitate wind distribution
Description of roots	Sometimes a taproot, but in hard ground a few main roots meander just below the surface of the ground, often further than the height of the plant
Variation
Propagation and cultivation	Grown from seed, although it tends to invade and is not often planted
Tolerances	Takes over neglected pieces of veld or cultivated fields
Uses	In traditional medicine taken as a snuff (ground dried leaves); as leaf infusions used orally for intestinal disorders or in children as an enema as a purgative; also used for headaches and tuberculosis
Ecological rarity	Very common
Pests and diseases
Other	The highveld grassland has twelve species of Asclepias inhabitants; A. fruticosa is a troublesome weed in Australia, at least in Queensland
Location	Grassland and disturbed ground; a road-side weed; different soil types
Distribution (SA provinces)	All SA provinces
Country	South Africa; Lesotho; Swaziland; Zimbabwe; Namibia; Botswana
	Info also from www.plantzafrica.com

Flowers photographed by Johan Wentzel

Photographed by Johan Wentzel

Seeds: Photographed by Johan Wentzel

Photographed by Johan Wentzel

Bauhinia galpinii

Botanical name	Bauhinia galpinii
Other names	Pride of De Kaap
	Fabaceae, previously Leguminoseae
Dimensions	Spreading shrub of 3m or more, may ramble into trees, sometimes a tree
Description of stem	Light-grey bark
Description of leaves	Characteristic bauhinia two-lobed semi-attached leaves
Description of flowers	Five-petalled flower of long-stemmed brick-red to orangy variations petals make conspicuous flowers attracting birds and many insects; flowers profusely through all of summer and autumn
Desciption of seed/fruit	A broad, woody pod that opens noisily when the seeds are freed
Description of roots
Variation

Propagation and Cultivation	Grows easily from seed or cuttings
Tolerances	Hardy
Uses	Popular garden plant; hedge plant
Ecological rarity	Common
Pests and Diseases
Other
Location	Woodlands, bushy areas
Distribution	Mpumalanga, especially around Barberton; Limpopo Province; KwaZulu-Natal
Country	South Africa; Mozambique; Swaziland; Zimbabwe

Photographed by Ricky Mauer

Bauhinia galpinii in KwazuluNatal; Photographed by Ricky Mauer.

Bauhinia galpinii flowers; Photograohed by Ricky Mauer.jpg

Dissotis princeps

Botanical name	Dissotis princeps
Other names	Wild tibouchina; lasiandra; kalwerbossie (Afrikaans)
Family	Melastomataceae
Dimensions	Herbaceous, perennial shrub that grows up to 3 m in height
Description of stem	Young stems are angular
Description of leaves	Hairy, as is the whole plant; elliptical to ovate or lanceolate, recurving along the main axis, the edges also curving inwards; edges entire
Description of flowers	Terminal panicles of purple, violet or occasionally white flowers, 6 cm in diameter; in warm climates the flowering may occur almost all year round; a green five sepal calyx tube topped with five petals lighter coloured towards the outside; the style is pink and the two rows of 5 stamens in each flower are cream in colour; they are unequal and characteristically bent at the beginning stage after the flower has opened
Description of seed/fruit	The seed capsule is embedded in the persistent calyx; it contains many small seeds
Description of roots
Variation	Some have longer bristles on and varied forms of the seed receptacles
Propagation and cultivation	Good in well-watered deep soil in sunny places; cut back heavily in winter; grown by cuttings more commonly than from seed; fast-growing and easy to grow
Tolerances
Uses	The leaves are used to treat dysentry and diarrhoea in traditional medicine; fodder to fatten calves; a vegetable in food scarcity times; a garden plant, from which several cultivars have been made; said to be used as an aphrodysiac
Ecological rarity	Common
Pests and diseases
Other	Dissos' (Greek) means two-fold, referring to the two appearances of the stamens; 'princeps' (Latin) is distinguished, probably placing it above other species in the genus in terms of its specacular flower; whilst about 100 Dissotis species occur in Africa, southern Africa only has three, including D. princeps
Location	Montane bush and marshy areas, forest edges https://www.cialissansordonnancefr24.com/ and streambanks
Distribution (SA provinces)	Kwazulu-Natal; Mpumalanga; Limpopo
Country	South Africa; Swaziland; Mozambique; Zimbabwe; Tanzania; Malawi; Zambia; Botswana; Namibia
	Info: www.plantzafrica.com

Erica mammosa

Botanical name	Erica mammosa
Other names	Ninepin heath; rooiklossieheide (Afrikaans)
Family	Ericaceae
Dimensions	A woody, multibranched fynbos shrub of 1,7 m
Description of stem
Description of leaves	Tiny, grey-green, lanceolate to linear leaves scattered around branches
Description of flowers	Profuse maroon, pink, greenish-white or white tubular flowers of 1,5 to 2,5 cm, fluted longitudinally, on peduncle of a few mm on terminal racemes; tube opening fourlobed; flowers appear October to March
Description of seed/fruit
Description of roots
Variation	Highly variable flower colours
Propagation and cultivation	Semi-hardwood cuttings; well-drained soil, but kept moist
Tolerances
Uses	Garden plant in winter rainfall areas
Ecological rarity
Pests and diseases	Several conditions can affect this plant, including powdery mildew, root rot, rust or fusarium wilt, all of which can be controlled
Other	The oldest specimen in the Pretoria National Herbarium is of E. mammosa, collected in 1811 by W.J. Burchell near Salt River in the Cape; the herbarium contains about 1,2 million specimens
Location	Sunny slopes in winter rainfall areas on acid, loam ro sandy loam soil in full sun or much sun
Distribution (SA provinces)	Western Cape
Country	South Africa

Erica mammosa: Photographed by Retha Wareham