Groot Toren
A mountain top on the Riviersonderend mountains.
Nodes
Gladiolus hyalinus
Anaxeton hirsutum
Tritoniopsis pulchella
Insecta
Peucedanum ferulaceum
Senecio lineatus
Capeochloa cincta
Drosera capensis
Andropogon appendiculatus
Pages
Taxonomy term
Oxalis
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From the Greek oxys = sharp, sour or acid and (h)als = salt. The plant is frequently consumed for its sour taste caused by the oxalic acid, particularly the flowering stalks of O. pes-caprae. In large quantities the oxalic acid inhibits digestion and in stock leads to the condition 'dikpens' or bloated belly.
Oxalis eckloniana
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Named after Christian Frederick Ecklon (1795-1868), a Danish apothecary, plant collector and traveller. His plant collecting trips were amongst the most noteworthy of the early plant collectors and many new species were described by him.
Oxalis polyphylla
(Vingersuring){"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
From Latin poly = 'many' and phyllon = 'leaf'. It may also refer to a leaf divided into many leaflets.
Peucedanum ferulaceum
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From the Latin ‘ferulaceum’ / ‘ferulaceus’ meaning ‘resembling fennel’
Protea
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Gk. After Proteus, a mythological sea-god, who could change his form at will, taking new shapes. Seemingly Linnaeus was so over-awed by the variety of plants sent to him from the Cape that he named the genus Protea. The authors could not confirm this.
Pseudoselago
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Gk. pseudo- = false, resembling but not the real Selago (q.v.). Looks like Selago whose seeds are tapered on both ends compared with Pseudoselago only at one end; also Pseudoselago has a yellow-orange patch inside the flower which is not present in Selago.
Psoralea
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Gk. psoraleos = scabby. The plants are covered with rough warty-looking glandular dots.
Roella
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For Willem (Wilhelm) Röell (1700–1775), Dutch professor of anatomy in Amsterdam and horticulturist. He commenced his medical studies in 1718 and graduated at the University of Leiden in 1725. In 1731, he succeeded Frederick Ruysch as praelector anatomiae. This proved to be a poor choice as he neglected his teaching duties and the quality of training was poor, thus earning the ire of the Surgeons Guilds in Delft and Amsterdam. In 1754, he became a governor of the West Indian Company and owned two plantations in British Guiana. In 1755, he was made professor of anatomy and surgery at the Amsterdam Athaeum, but resigned the same year because of ill health. He owned the mansion De Keukenhof at Lisse, where he kept a botanical collection, and donated specimens, Lithophyta (stone plants) and African seed to the Clifford collection.
Serruria
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For Joseph (Josephus) Serrurier (1663–1742), Dutch physician, philosopher, mathematician, botanist and physicist. He studied at the University of Utrecht, obtaining an MA degree in 1690 and qualifying as a doctor of medicine on the same day. During his career at Utrecht, he became professor of philosophy and mathematics (1705), professor of botany and medicine (1716), and the university’s rector on three occasions. Among his works, he authored an extensive treatise on experimental physics, Physicae Experimentis Innixae Compendiosa Tractatio (1700), a commemorative volume on Adrianus Reland, orientalist, linguist and physicist; and created a new hortus botanicus, which he modelled on the University of Leiden’s widely acclaimed botanical garden designed by Herman Boerhaave.
Stayneria
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For Frank James Stayner (1907–1981), South African horticulturist, specialist on succulent plants, trained with the Port Elizabeth parks department from 1928 to 1932 and at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew from 1933–1934. He was assistant superintendent of parks in the Port Elizabeth parks department from 1935–1946, farmed from 1947–1948, and worked as a horticulturalist for Ford Motor Company from 1949–1954. He farmed again in 1955, was with the parks department again from 1956–1959, and was curator of the (newly named) Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden at Worcester from 1959–1969.
Tritoniopsis pulchella
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From the Latin pulchellus meaning ‘beautiful’
Viola decumbens
(Cape Violet){"type":"FeatureCollection","features":[]}
From the Latin word decumbens meaning 'lying down' or 'prostrate';
Wimmerella
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For Elfrieda Franz Wimmer (1881–1961), an Austrian botanist, naturalist, teacher and Roman Catholic priest. From his early youth, he had an interest in insects and plants. He studied in Vienna and Graz, and taught at St George’s College in Constantinople. In 1907, he was ordained and became chaplain in Vienna. Later, he became director of the Elisabeth Hospital Sisters of Mercy in Vienna until his retirement in 1958. In his spare time, he travelled to Asia Minor. From 1943–1953, Wimmer contributed to the book Das Pflanzenreich (The Empire of Plants) by Adolf Engler, in particular for the Campanulaceae-Lobelioideae. In 1944, he was appointed correspondent of the Natural History Museum in Vienna.