On this page you can find photographs of some of our indigenous plants.
bulbs and orchids
proteas
shrubs (and everything else)
This page is intended for anyone with an interest in South African indigenous plants. The idea is to show the best photographs of as many different plants as I can get hold of.
My own interest in plants of any kind, is a recent one, very much triggered by my brother Charles and his brother-in-law, Gerhard Dreyer. Gerhard was a remarkable person, and a great photographer.
We are very lucky indeed that Gerhard's family made some of his stunning photographs available for use on this website. They are of course much inferior to the originals. For those who want to see more of his work,
Gerhard Dreyer's Wild Flowers is a must-have. The informative text is by Ernst van Jaarsveld and Dick Wilkins and Sunbird Publishing did a magnificent job producing this book.
Here are some examples of his work:
You can help expanding this collection by sending your digital photographs to: herbst@sun.ac.za
Photographs of plants in nature will be the best. Please give all relevant information such as identification, location, date, habitat, and anything else that might be of interest.
On the identification of the plants: Please remember that we are a bunch a amateurs. If a full identification is given, it means that it is a pretty good guess, no guarantees! Where only the genus is given, such as in Gladiolus Species, it means that I am reasonably sure it is a Gladiolus, but don't have a clue about the species.
In the case of unidentified or misidentified plants, maybe there is someone who would be kind enough to help us out!
Hybrids, like in Freesia hybrid, means that it is a hybrid specifically produced for gardening purposes. If possible, we also give the names of the hybrids such as in Leucospermum `Scarlet Ribbon'.
Some species such as Clivia miniata, have been much improved by breeders all over the world. Until we get photographs of original wild plants, we'll make do with the garden variety.
Must reads:
Ernst van Jaarveld. Gerhard Dreyer's wild flowers. A visual celebration of South Africa's floral abundance. Sunbird Publising, Llandudno (2003).
Niel du Plessis and Graham Duncan. Bulbous plants of Southern Africa. Tafelberg, Cape Town (1989).
John Manning, Peter Goldblatt and Dee Snijman. The color encyclopedia of Cape bulbs. Timber Press, Portland (2002).
Tony Robelo. Proteas. A field guide to the Proteas of Southern Africa. Fernwood Press, Vlaeberg (1995). (There is a new edition out and I have a birthday coming up within the next year!)
Peter Goldblatt and John Manning. Wildflowers of the Fairest Cape. Red Roof Design, Cape Town (2000).
Peter Goldblatt and John Manning. Gladiolus in Southern Africa. Fernwood Press, Vlaeberg (1998).
Peter Goldblatt. The Moraeas of Southern Africa. Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, Volume 14. National Botanic Gardens (1886).
Els Dorrat Haaksma and H. Peter Linder. Restios of the Fynbos. Botanical Society of South Africa, Cape Town (2000).
John Manning. Photograhic guide to the Wildflowers of South Africa. Briza, Pretoria (2003).
