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Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden
The Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden located in the historical center of Stellenbosch is the oldest university botanical garden in South Africa. The Garden is relatively small and houses an enormous diversity of plants, both indigenous to South Africa and introduced species. It is open to the public. History The history of the Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden dates back to 1902 when lecturer Augusta Vera Duthie grew plants next to the then Main Building on campus for research and student practicals. The Botanical Garden's current site dates back to 1922 when Gert Cornelius Nel, professor of botany at the time convinced the University Council to allocate land for the establishment of the Garden. Hans Herre was appointed as the first curator of the Garden in 1925. Curators of the botanical garden included Hans Herre (1925–1962), Wim Tijmens (1962–1999), Deon Kotze (1999–2012), Martin Smit (2013–2018), and Donovan Kirkwood (2018-). Key functions and ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer. Thomas Baldwin, 1852. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co.A Grammar of Afrikaans. Bruce C. Donaldson. 1993. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated about east of Cape Town, alo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erica Verticillata
''Erica verticillata'' is a species of '' Erica'' that was naturally restricted to the city of Cape Town but is now classified as extinct in the wild. Distribution It formerly grew only in certain areas of the Cape Flats on the Cape Peninsula of South Africa. Habitat It grew in Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, a fynbos type that is threatened by urban sprawl and fragmentation. It preferred damp sandy soils such as those that were naturally found around Wynberg, Kenilworth and Zeekoevlei. Conservation Although the species became functionally extinct due to agricultural and urban development of its habitat in the early 20th century, cuttings from several plants discovered in the wild in the later 20th century have ensured that the species will continue in cultivation. 1984 saw the introduction of cuttings from two specimens, one in Protea Park, Pretoria and another in Kew. The former were collected by Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden scholar David von Well after he recognized the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelargonium Peltatum
''Pelargonium peltatum'' is a scrambling perennial plant with five shallow or deeply lobed, circular- to heart-shaped, somewhat fleshy leaves, sometimes with a differently coloured semicircular band, that has been assigned to the cranesbill family. It carries umbel-like inflorescences with 2–10, white to mauve, bilateral symmetrical flowers, each with a "spur" that is merged with the flower stalk. It is known by several common names including ivy-leaved pelargonium and cascading geranium. It is native to southern and eastern South Africa. In its home range, it flowers year round but most vigorously from August to October. Description The ivy-leaved pelargonium is a perennial plant that scrambles over the surrounding vegetation and its somewhat succulent, slender and smooth, 3–10 mm (0.12–0.40 in) thick stems can grow to a length of about 2 m (7 ft). The leaves are alternately arranged along the stem, but sometimes seem to be opposite. The leaves have broad oval to tri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eriocephalus Africanus
''Eriocephalus africanus'' is a bushy shrublet indigenous to South Africa. It has a wide distribution in the Western and Eastern Cape, and in Namaqualand. The plant has several common names in various languages. It is known as the Kapokbossie or Wild Rosemary (Afrikaans "wilde roosmaryn") referring to its fancied resemblance to rosemary. The superficial resemblance is in the foliage, which, though softer and not glossy, grows in a habit similar to that of the common Mediterranean rosemary, although the two species are not related. ''Eriocephalus africanus'' is fragrant, with lightly felted foliage that gives the plant a matt silvery appearance. The inflorescences are small brown and pale yellow heads borne in corymbs; each head bears a few bisexual ray florets with abortive ovaries and snowy white petals that practically cover a bush in flower. The ray florets surround usually some four to eight female florets in the centre.Dyer, R. Allen, The Genera of Southern African Flower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lessertia Frutescens
''Sutherlandia frutescens'' (cancer bush, balloon pea, sutherlandia, phetola ("it changes") in seTswana, and insiswa ("the one that drives away the darkness") in isiZulu; syn. ''Colutea frutescens'' L., ''Lessertia frutescens'' (L.) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning) is a southern African legume. It is a shrub with bitter, aromatic leaves. Red-orange flowers appear in spring to mid-summer. Cultivation ''Sutherlandia frutescens'' is a small bush growing up to about high. It is native to dry parts of southern Africa, preferring full sun but tolerant of a wide variety of soil types. It is a tough plant, hardy, fast growing and drought tolerant but short lived. Seeds germinate readily in around two to three weeks and established plants self-seed readily. Seedlings may be vulnerable to damping off Damping off (or damping-off) is a horticultural disease or condition, caused by several different pathogens that kill or weaken seeds or seedlings before or after they germinate. It is most prev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agathosma
''Agathosma'' is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae, native to the southern part of Africa. Common names include Buchu, Boegoe, Bucco, Bookoo and Diosma. ''Buchu'' formally denotes two herbal species, prized for their fragrance and medicinal use despite their toxicity. In colloquial use however, the term (see Boegoe) is applied to a wider set of fragrant shrubs or substitutes. They are small shrubs and subshrubs, mostly with erect woody stems reaching 30–100 cm tall, but low-growing and prostrate in some species. The leaves are usually opposite, ericoid, often crowded, simple, entire, from 0.5-3.5 cm long. The flowers are produced in terminal clusters, 0.7–2 cm diameter, with five white, pink, red or purple, petals. Many of the species are highly aromatic, and the genus name means "good fragrance". Some species of the genus are used as herbal remedies. Uses Two species of ''Agathosma'' endemic to the Western Cape m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drosera
''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.McPherson, S.R. 2008. ''Glistening Carnivores''. Redfern NaturalHistory Productions Ltd., Poole. Charles Darwin performed much of the early research into ''Drosera'', engaging in a long series of experiments with Drosera rotundifolia which were the first to confirm carnivory in plants. In an 1860 letter, Darwin wrote, “…at the present moment, I care more about ''Drosera'' than the origin of all the species in the world.” Both the botanical name (from the Greek δρόσος: ''drosos'' = "dew, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarracenia
''Sarracenia'' ( or ) is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera '' Darlingtonia'' and '' Heliamphora''. ''Sarracenia'' is a genus of carnivorous plants indigenous to the eastern seaboard of the United States, Texas, the Great Lakes area and southeastern Canada, with most species occurring only in the south-east United States (only '' S. purpurea'' occurs in cold-temperate regions). The plant's leaves have evolved into a funnel or pitcher shape in order to trap insects. The plant attracts its insect prey with secretions from extrafloral nectaries on the lip of the pitcher leaves, as well as a combination of the leaves' color and scent. Slippery footing at the pitcher's rim, causes insects to fall inside, where they die and are digested by the plant with proteases and other enzymes. Description ''Sarracenia'' are h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nepenthes
''Nepenthes'' () is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mostly liana-forming plants of the Old World tropics, ranging from South China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines; westward to Madagascar (two species) and the Seychelles (one); southward to Australia (four) and New Caledonia (one); and northward to India (one) and Sri Lanka (one). The greatest diversity occurs on Borneo, Sumatra, and the Philippines, with many endemic species. Many are plants of hot, humid, lowland areas, but the majority are tropical montane plants, receiving warm days but cool to cold, humid nights year round. A few are considered tropical alpine, with cool days and nights near freezing. The name "monkey cups" refers to the fact that monkeys were once thought to drink rainwater from the pitchers. Description ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus ''Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should clearly demons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equisetum
''Equisetum'' (; horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in Equisetaceae, a family of ferns, which reproduce by spores rather than seeds. ''Equisetum'' is a "living fossil", the only living genus of the entire subclass Equisetidae, which for over 100 million years was much more diverse and dominated the understorey of late Paleozoic forests. Some equisetids were large trees reaching to tall. The genus ''Calamites'' of the family Calamitaceae, for example, is abundant in coal deposits from the Carboniferous period. The pattern of spacing of nodes in horsetails, wherein those toward the apex of the shoot are increasingly close together, is said to have inspired John Napier to invent logarithms. Modern horsetails first appeared during the Jurassic period. A superficially similar but entirely unrelated flowering plant genus, mare's tail (''Hippuris''), is occasionally referred to as "horsetail", and adding to confusion, the name "mare's tail" is someti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyathea
''Cyathea'' is a genus of tree ferns, the type genus of the fern order Cyatheales. The genus name ''Cyathea'' is derived from the Greek ''kyatheion'', meaning "little cup", and refers to the cup-shaped sori on the underside of the fronds. Description The species of ''Cyathea'' are mostly terrestrial ferns, usually with a single tall stem. Rarely, the trunk may be branched or creeping. Many species also develop a fibrous mass of roots at the base of the trunk. The genus has a pantropical distribution, with over 470 species. They grow in habitats ranging from tropical rain forests to temperate woodlands. Classification Conant ''et al.'' in 1996, concluded on molecular cpDNA and morphological evidence that a system of three clades – ''Alsophila'', ''Cyathea'' and ''Sphaeropteris'' was the most accurate reflection of evolutionary lineages within the Cyatheaceae, ''Alsophila'' being the most basal and ''Cyathea'' and ''Sphaeropteris'' derived sister groups. In the Pteridophyt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
