Taxa Field Guide
C
Eudicotyledoneae
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
G
Chrysanthemoides
NE
1
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Chrysanthemum (q.v.); Gk. -oides = resembling.
S
Chrysanthemoides monilifera
(Bietou)
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Greek ‘anthe’ / ‘anthos’ meaning ‘flower ’; and the Greek ‘oides’ / ‘oides’ meaning ‘in the form of’.
Description:
Rounded shrub to over 1.5 m, thinly woolly on young parts. Leaves obovate to elliptic, toothed, dark green, leathery. Flower heads radiate, few in terminal corymbs on short peduncles, yellow. Mainly Mar.--July. Sandstone and limestone slopes and flats, NW, SW, AP, KM, LB, SE (Namaqualand to tropical Africa).
F
THYMELAEACEAE
NE
1
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Thymelaea was Latin for plants of the genus Daphne from the Greek thymelaia, from thymos, thyme; elaia, olive.
G
Struthiola
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. strouthos = a starling. The seeds are pointed like a starling’s beak (Hugh Glen). Alternately, Gk. strouthion = a small bird, sparrow (dim. of strouthos = ostrich). Perhaps the seed resembles a sparrow’s beak (WPU Jackson).
F
FABACEAE
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Faba, Latin, a bean.
G
Acacia
NE
2
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. akakia (a-kakos) = not good. Gk. ake, akis = a sharp point; probably refers to the spines (stipules) that are typical in many of these genera. The name given by early Greek botanistphysician Pedanius Dioscorides (c 40–90) to the Egyptian thorn, Vachellia nilotica, for its medicinal properties. However, this name remains controversial, and Southern African ‘Acacias’ are divided into two genera.
S
Acacia cyclops
(Redeye)
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Greek ‘cyc’ / ‘kuklos’ meaning ‘circle’; and the Greek ‘ops’ / ‘ops’ meaning ‘eye’.
Description:
Shrub or tree to 4 m. Phyllodes oblong, with 3--7 longitudinal veins. Flowers in globose heads, yellow. Pods flat, undulate or twisted, not constricted between the seeds. Seeds black, with prominent fleshy red aril. Oct.--May. Mountain and lowland fynbos, coastal dunes, SW, AP, LB, SE (Australian weed).G
Amphithalea
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. amphi = around; thallos = a green stalk; hence flowering all around the stem.
S
Amphithalea ericifolia
4
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Latin ‘erici’ / ‘erica’ meaning ‘heath’; and the Latin ‘folia’ / ‘folium’ meaning ‘leaf’.
Description:
Erect, resprouting shrublet to 1 m. Leaves 1-foliolate, lanceolate, margins strongly recurved, silky. Flowers pink, rose and dark pink. Apr.--Jan. Mountain and lowland fynbos below 1500 m, SW, LB (Malmesbury to Albertinia).G
Aspalathus
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From aspalathos, a scented bush that grew in Greece, now in the related genus Astragalus.
S
Aspalathus ericifolia
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Latin ‘erici’ / ‘erica’ meaning ‘heath’; and the Latin ‘folia’ / ‘folium’ meaning ‘leaf’.
Description:
Erect or sprawling shrublet, 20--60 cm. Leaves 3-foliolate, leaflets terete-ovoid, glabrous or hairy. Flowers scattered, pale or bright yellow, keel hairy, occ. glabrous, calyx shortly hairy, lobes slender-filiform. Sept.--Nov. Mountain and lowland fynbos, up to 800 m, NW, SW, AP (Porterville to Agulhas).S
Aspalathus hirta
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Latin hirtus = 'hairy' and flora = 'flower'
Description:
Shrub, 0.8--2 m. Leaves 3-foliolate, leaflets needle-like or slightly angular, pungent. Flowers scattered, bright yellow, keel shortly hairy below, calyx shortly hairy, lobes needle-like. Sept.--Dec. Mountain fynbos, 250--700 m, NW, SW, KM, LB, SE (Bokkeveld to Kouga Mts).S
Aspalathus juniperina
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the resemblance to juniperus, a ‘juniper tree’
Description:
Sprawling or prostrate shrublet, sometimes mat-forming, with brancnhes 0.2--2 m long. Leaves 3-foliolate, leaflets subterete. Flowers 1--3 at the branch tips, pale or bright yellow, sometimes partly reddish, standard incurved on the sides, keel glabrous, calyx glabrous. Aug.--Sept. Mountain fynbos, 260--2000 m, NW, SW, AP, KM (Piketberg to Agulhas and Klein Swartberg).G
Liparia
NE
2
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. liparos = oily, shiny; referring to the shiny, hairless leaves of the genus.
S
Liparia splendens
(Mountain Dahlia){"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Latin splendere = ‘splendid’, 'gleaming', 'shiny', 'gleaming', glittering', 'radiant' or 'resplendent'
Description:
Much-branched, resprouting shrub to 1 m. Leaves elliptic. Flowers 15--17 in congested, globose racemes, orange to red, bracts longer than the pedicel, not clasping the base of the calyx, dark reddish brown. May--Jan. Mountain and lowland fynbos, 20--1200 m, SW, LB (Cape Peninsula to Hottentots Holland Mts, Albertinia).G
Psoralea
NE
2
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. psoraleos = scabby. The plants are covered with rough warty-looking glandular dots.
S
Psoralea pinnata
(Fonteinbos)
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Latin ‘pinnata’ / ‘pinnatus’ meaning ‘feathered’
Description:
Willowy tree to 4 m. Leaves 7--9-foliolate. Flowers blue. Oct.--Apr. Mountain fynbos, forest margins, riverbeds, 230--1060 m, NW, SW, LB, (Cape Peninsula to Kogelberg).
F
FABACEAE
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Faba, Latin, a bean.
G
Aspalathus
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From aspalathos, a scented bush that grew in Greece, now in the related genus Astragalus.
G
Cyclopia
NE
19
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. kyklos = circle, round, circular; ops = eye; referring to the circular base of the calyx; a more likely derivation than from Kyklops, the one-eyed monster of Homer’s Odyssey.
G
Psoralea
NE
2
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. psoraleos = scabby. The plants are covered with rough warty-looking glandular dots.
F
GENTIANACEAE
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gentius, king of Illyria (on the east bank of the Adriatic sea) in the 2nd century B.C., was believed to have used Gentiana lutea for medicinal purposes.
G
Chironia
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
For Chiron, the good ‘civilised’ centaur of Greek mythology who studied medicine, astronomy, music and other arts. When he was accidentally shot, legend has it that Zeus, the god of sky and thunder, put him in the south at Alpha and Beta Centauri, pointers to the Southern Cross; referring to the plant’s medicinal properties.
S
Chironia linoides
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Greek ‘lin’ / ‘linon’ meaning ‘flax’; and the Greek ‘oides’ / ‘oides’ meaning ‘in the form of’.
Description:
Shrublet to 90 cm. Leaves linear, erect or spreading. Flowers pink, corolla tube 3--5 mm long, ovary and fruits rounded, stigma truncate. Oct.--Jan. Sandy or marshy flats and slopes, NW, SW, KM, LB (Namaqualand to Cape Peninsula to Oudshoorn and Bredasdorp).
F
GENTIANACEAE
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gentius, king of Illyria (on the east bank of the Adriatic sea) in the 2nd century B.C., was believed to have used Gentiana lutea for medicinal purposes.
G
Chironia
NE
20
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
For Chiron, the good ‘civilised’ centaur of Greek mythology who studied medicine, astronomy, music and other arts. When he was accidentally shot, legend has it that Zeus, the god of sky and thunder, put him in the south at Alpha and Beta Centauri, pointers to the Southern Cross; referring to the plant’s medicinal properties.
G
Wahlenbergia
NE
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
For Georg Göran Wahlenberg (1780–1851), Swedish naturalist, geographer and doctor, who became a demonstrator in botany (1815–1828) and professor of botany at the University of Uppsala (1828–1851), succeeding Carl Peter Thunberg. Wahlenberg made his main work in the field of plant geography, and published, among other things the Flora Lapponica (1812), a considerably extended version of the work of his compatriot Linnaeus, who wrote a publication of the same name (1737). His other works were based on his trips to Norway, Finland and the plant world of northernmost Sweden. Wahlenberg was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1808.
G
Pelargonium
NE
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Gk. pelargos = a stork; referring to the beak of the fruit which resembles a stork’s bill (cf Geranium, Erodium).
S
Pelargonium cucullatum
(Wildemalva)
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Latin cucullatus = ‘hooded’
Description:
Shrub to 2 m. Leaves more or less round, c. 70 mm diam. Flowers to 13, c. 4 cm diam., pinkish purple, with wide and overlapping petals; hypanthium 5--12 mm long, slightly longer than the pedicel. Sept.--Feb. Sandy and granite slopes along coast, SW, AP (Saldanha Bay to Baardskeerdersbos).S
Pelargonium myrrhifolium
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Greek ‘myrrhi’ / ‘myrrhis’ meaning ‘myrrh’; and the Latin ‘folium’ / ‘folium’ meaning ‘leaf’.
Description:
Sprawling shrublet c. 30 cm. Leaves bipinnatisect, segments linear to ribbon-shaped, c. 5 F
GOODENIACEAE
NE
1
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Commemorating Dr. Samuel Goodenough, 1743- 1827, Bishop of Carlisle and amateur botanist.
G
Lobelia
NE
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
For Mathias de L’Obel (Lobel, Lobelius) (1538–1616), Flemish botanist, traveller, plant collector. He studied medicine in Leuven and Montpellier and practised medicine from 1571–1581 in Antwerp and Delft, where he was physician to William, Prince of Orange. In 1584 he left the Netherlands for England to escape the civil war and never returned. He became physician to King James I of England and also the king’s botanist. His major work, written in collaboration with Pierre Pena, was Stirpium Adversaria Nova (1571), which describes some 1 500 species in the vicinity of Montpellier, also of Tyrol, Switzerland and the Netherlands. A second volume, Plantarum Historia Stirpium, was published in 1576 with more than 2 000 illustrations, and a further work, Icones Stirpium, seu, Plantarum Tam Exoticarum in 1591.
S
Lobelia comosa
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
From the Latin comosus = 'having long or abundant hairs' or 'with a tuft', 'having many leaves' or 'being leafy'
Description:
Soft shrublet to 50 cm, branching from the base. Leaves .... Flowers bright blue. Mainly Aug.--Jan. Sandy coastal slopes, SW, AP (Cape Peninsula to Caledon).S
Lobelia jasionoides
{"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
Short etymology:
Description:
Erect or sprawling perennial to 50 cm. Leaves . Flowers lilac and white. Oct.--Feb. Shady upper slopes, NW, SW, AP, LB (Gifberg to Swellendam).
