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Rietvlei Nature Reserve
Rietvlei Nature Reserve, located in southern Pretoria, is about in size, and includes the entirety of the Rietvlei Dam which impounds the Rietvlei River, in Gauteng, South Africa. The reserve is wedged between the R21 highway ( OR Tambo Airport highway) on the western side and the R50 ( Delmas-Bapsfontein) road on the north-east. The mean elevation above sea level is approximately 1,525 meters, with the highest point at 1,542 m and the lowest at 1,473 m, the dam’s outflow in Sesmylspruit. The reserve covers a surface area of approximately 4,003 ha or 40 km2, of which the dam constitutes some 20ha. A network of roads criss-cross the entire area, which facilitates access to visitors and management. Flora and fauna Trees Both indigenous and exotic species of trees can be found in the reserve. ; Indigenous * Common hook thorn ''Acacia caffra'' * Sweet thorn ''Acacia karroo'' * Sagewood ''Buddleja salviifolia'' * White stinkwood ''Celtis africana'' * River bushwi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and center of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. It also hosts the National Research Foundation (South Africa), National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards. Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including Bronkhorstspruit, Centurion, Gaute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ehretia Rigida
''Ehretia rigida'' (puzzle bush, also ''deurmekaarbos'' in Afrikaans = "confused/tangled bush"), is a small, multi-stemmed tree with a tangled growth habit belonging to the Boraginaceae, the borage family. It occurs over a wide range of habitat throughout the eastern part of South Africa, and in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The species is deciduous, hardy and normally grows to about 5 meters tall. Branches are quite rigid, hence its specific name. Leaves are in tufts, leathery and rough with adpressed minute barbs along the margins. Almost invariably there are small pockets of hairs or acarodomatia, providing a refuge for mites in the axils of veins on the underside of the leaves. Bark is smooth and uniformly ash-grey, becoming rough on older stems. Fragrant lilac-coloured to white flowers are produced in early spring and are followed by small 8mm diameter fruits bearing a persistent style, green at first, turning orange, red and finally black. Seeds are some 3 mil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acacia Mearnsii
''Acacia mearnsii'', commonly known as black wattle, late black wattle or green wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is usually an erect tree with smooth bark, bipinnate leaves and spherical heads of fragrant pale yellow or cream-coloured flowers followed by black to reddish brown pods. In some other parts of the world, it is regarded as an invasive species. Description ''Acacis mearnsii'' is a spreading shrub or erect tree that typically grows to a height of and has smooth bark, sometimes corrugated at the base of old specimens. The leaves are bipinnate with 7 to 31 pairs of pinnae, each with 25 to 78 pairs of pinnules. There is a spherical gland up to below the lowest pair of pinnae. The scented flowers are arranged in spherical heads of twenty to forty and are pale yellow or cream-coloured, the heads on hairy peduncles long. Flowering mainly occurs from October to December and black to reddish-brown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acacia Decurrens
''Acacia decurrens'', commonly known as black wattle or early green wattle, is a perennial tree or shrub native to eastern New South Wales, including Sydney, the Greater Blue Mountains Area, the Hunter Region, and south west to the Australian Capital Territory. It grows to a height of 2–15 m (7–50 ft) and it flowers from July to September. Cultivated throughout Australia and in many other countries, ''Acacia decurrens'' has naturalised in most Australian states and in Africa, the Americas, Europe, New Zealand and the Pacific, the Indian Ocean area, and Japan. Description ''Acacia decurrens'' is a fast-growing tree, reaching anywhere from 2 to 15 m (7–50 ft) high. The bark is brown to dark grey colour and smooth to deeply fissured longitudinally with conspicuous intermodal flange marks. The branchlets have longitudinal ridges running along them that are unique to the species. Young foliage tips are yellow. . Alternately arranged leaves with dark green on both si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ziziphus Mucronata
''Ziziphus mucronata'', known as the buffalo thorn, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern Africa. It is deciduous and may grow up to 17 metres tall. It can survive in a variety of soil types, occurring in many habitats, mostly open woodlands, often on soils deposited by rivers, and grows frequently on termite mounds. Its Zulu name “umLahlankosi” alludes to its use as a grave marker for tribal chiefs, while the Afrikaans name “Blinkblaar-wag-'n-bietjie” alludes to the shiny light green leaves and the hooked thorns. Description The buffalo thorn is a small to medium size tree, reaching a height of about , or rarely . The bark is a red-brown (on young stems) or roughly mottled grey, cracked in small rectangular blocks revealing a stringy red underbark. The bark becomes rough and turns to a dark grey or brown colour. The shrub or tree has distinctive zigzag branchlets, armed with pairs of thorns, one hooked and the other straight. In some instanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhus Zeyheri
Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including East Asia, Africa, and North America. Sumac is used as a spice, as a dye, and in medicine. Description Sumacs are dioecious shrubs and small trees in the family Anacardiaceae that can reach a height of . The leaves are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits are reddish, thin-fleshed drupes covered in varying levels of hairs at maturity and form dense clusters at branch tips, sometimes called sumac bobs. Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new shoots from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies. Taxonomy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhus Pyroides
''Searsia pyroides'', previously known as ''Rhus pyroides'', (common currant-rhus English, gewone taaibos Afrikaans, nhlokoshiyane isiZulu) is a species of '' Searsia'', native to southern Africa. This tree occurs throughout the whole of South Africa, a part of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania and in some areas of Namibia near Windhoek. It is very variable in all respects, though it is usually bushy and often thorny. It is found in bushveld, dry thornveld, on rocky hillsides, termite mounds, water courses and even on the fringes of forests. It is very hardy, tough, drought resistant and deciduous. The leaves are attractive and trifoliolate and it sometimes has large, woody thorns Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com .... Flowers are very small, greenish and are borne i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhus Magalismontana
Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including East Asia, Africa, and North America. Sumac is used as a spice, as a dye, and in medicine. Description Sumacs are dioecious shrubs and small trees in the family Anacardiaceae that can reach a height of . The leaves are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits are reddish, thin-fleshed drupes covered in varying levels of hairs at maturity and form dense clusters at branch tips, sometimes called sumac bobs. Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new shoots from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies. Taxonomy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhus Lancea
''Searsia lancea'' commonly known as karee (archaicly karree), is an evergreen, frost hardy, drought resistant tree, which can reach up to 8 metres in height with a 5-metre spread. In North America, where it is naturalized, it is known as African sumac and willow rhus. It is one of the most common trees on the Highveld and in the Bushveld in South Africa, but not found in the Lowveld. Common names ''S. lancea'' bares many names by locals in South Africa. By far the most common name for this tree is ''karee'' which derives from the Khoemana word ''!xareb'' (Compare Khoekhoegowab cognate '', garas''). This is mostly used by speakers of Afrikaans. Another Afrikaans name names known is ''Rosyntjiebos'' from ''rosyn (raisin) '' and ''bos (bush)''. In the Sotho–Tswana languages, the names ''mosilabele'' in Southern Sotho, ''mokalabata'' in Northern Sotho and ''mosabele'' in Tswana are cognates. In Khelobedu, the names is and ''mushakaladza'' in Venda. Among Nguni languages the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhus Discolor
Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including East Asia, Africa, and North America. Sumac is used as a spice, as a dye, and in medicine. Description Sumacs are dioecious shrubs and small trees in the family Anacardiaceae that can reach a height of . The leaves are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits are reddish, thin-fleshed drupes covered in varying levels of hairs at maturity and form dense clusters at branch tips, sometimes called sumac bobs. Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new shoots from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies. Taxonomy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhus Dentata
''Searsia dentata'', the nana-berry (English), or nanabessie (Afrikaans), is a medium-sized, deciduous tree, reaching a height of about 5 metres and a spread of 4 metres, and with a tendency to scramble through and over neighbouring trees. It occurs naturally in almost the whole of South Africa except the Western and Northern Cape Provinces. Its habitat varies from sea level to the highlands of the Drakensberg. It is frost-hardy and should be planted in full sun. The strongly aromatic leaves are usually conspicuously toothed (hence the name ''dentata''), though sometimes they may be only slightly toothed. The tree produces small, creamy-white flowers in masses, developing into small, flattened drupes In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ... (5-6mm) which turn red or ora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhamnus Prinoides
''Rhamnus prinoides'', the shiny-leaf buckthorn, is an African shrub or small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. Commonly referred to as "gesho" it was first scientifically described by French botanist Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1789. Description ''Rhamnus prinoides'' occur from Ethiopia, Eritrea to South Africa at medium to high altitudes. They grow near streams or along forest margins. The small edible fruits are shiny red and berry-like. Uses The ''Rhamnus prinoides'' plant has many uses amongst the inhabitants of Africa. All parts of the plant are harvested and used for nutrition, medicine or religious purposes. Gesho, as it is known in Eritrea and Ethiopia, In Eritrea and Ethiopia, where the plant is known as ''gešo'' or ''gesho'', it is used in a manner similar to hops. The stems are boiled and the extract mixed with honey to ferment a mead called ''myes'' in Tigrinya and ''tej'' in Amharic. It is also used in the brewing of tella ('' siwa'' in Tigrinya), an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
