Aloe is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants. The most widely known species is Aloe vera, or "true aloe". It is called this because it is cultivated as the standard source for assorted pharmaceutical purposes. Other species, such as Aloe ferox, are also cultivated or harvested from the wild for similar applications.
Rooibos, or Aspalathus linearis, is a broom-like member of the plant family Fabaceae that grows in South Africa's fynbos biome.
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa was a Zulu sangoma from South Africa. He was known as an author of books that draw upon African mythology, traditional Zulu folklore, extraterrestrial encounters and his own personal encounters. His last work was a graphic novel called the Tree of Life Trilogy based on his writings of his most famous book, Indaba my Children. In 2018 he was honoured with an USIBA award presented by the South African Department of Arts and Culture, for his work in Indigenous Wisdom.
Amaranthus retroflexus is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae with several common names, including red-root amaranth, redroot pigweed, red-rooted pigweed, common amaranth, pigweed amaranth, and common tumbleweed.
Mesembryanthemum tortuosum is a succulent plant in the family Aizoaceae native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is known as kanna, channa, kougoed —which literally means, 'chew(able) things' or 'something to chew'.
Agathosma betulina is a flowering plant in the family Rutaceae, native to the lower elevation mountains of western South Africa, where it occurs near streams in fynbos habitats.
Artemisia afra, the African wormwood,[4] is a common species of the genus Artemisia in Africa, with a wide distribution from South Africa, to areas reaching to the North and East, as far north as Ethiopia.
Arctopus is a genus of flowering plants in the Apiaceae, with three species. The genus is endemic to Southern Africa. The genus name means "bears foot" in reference to the curious growth habit, resembling a large footprint, if not to the fact that the leaves are fringed with formidable prickles that punish bare feet and grazing.
Choritaenia capensis is a species of flowering plant in the Apiaceae, of the monotypic genus Choritaenia. It is endemic to central parts of southern Africa. Individuals are usually reported from disturbed areas, such as roadsides, flood plains, and dry dams. It flowers in the spring and early summer. It is distinct for containing several morphological features that are not seen in any of the other genera of the family Apiaceae. Its fruits have a dense vestiture and hygroscopic carpophore that may be an adaptation that allows the plant to respond rapidly to the earliest spring rains.
Aloe marlothii is a large, single-stemmed Southern African aloe of rocky places and open flat country, occasionally growing up to 6 m tall.
Rotheca myricoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Africa and widely cultivated elsewhere. In cultivation, it is frequently known by one of its synonyms, such as Clerodendrum myricoides.
Traditional African medicine is a range of traditional medicine disciplines involving indigenous herbalism and African spirituality, typically including diviners, midwives, and herbalists. Practitioners of traditional African medicine claim, largely without evidence, to be able to cure a variety of diverse conditions including cancer, psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure, cholera, most venereal diseases, epilepsy, asthma, eczema, fever, anxiety, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia, urinary tract infections, gout, and healing of wounds and burns and Ebola.
Onocosiphon suffruticosus, commonly known as the shrubby mayweed, is a flowering plant native to Namibia and the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa. Additionally, it can now be found in France, Australia, and the USA.
Aloe pretoriensis, is a species of Aloe found discontinuously in northern South Africa, eastern Zimbabwe and eastern Eswatini. It occurs in rocky grassland at generally higher altitudes. It is not threatened, but human-induced declines have occurred in the Bankenveld region of Gauteng. It flowers in winter and is pollinated by insects and birds. The pointy flowers are carried on elongated racemes on a decidedly tall and branched peduncle. They have a tight rosette of erect, pale green leaves, which are quite thin compared to other Aloe species. Drying leaf tips turn reddish.
Michael Jeffrey Balick is an American ethnobotanist, economic botanist, and pharmacognosist, known as a leading expert on medicinal and toxic plants, biocultural conservation and the plant family Arecaceae (palms).
Gardenia volkensii, commonly known as bushveldt gardenia or Transvaal gardenia, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae native to southern Africa.
Plectranthus ambiguus, the pincushion spurflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. Its cultivar 'Manguzuku' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Flowers are pinkish purple with faint purple lines on the upper edge.
Amandawe also known as Amandawe Mission, or often informally abbreviated as A.M.A or A.M is a small township in the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast region of South Africa. The area is mostly populated with Black Africans.
John Massa Kasenene is a botanical and environmental ecologist, academic, scientist and academic administrator in Uganda. From 4 October 2022, he serves as the substantive Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Mountains of the Moon University (MMU), at that time, the tenth public university in the country.
Anthurium marmoratum is a species of plant in the genus Anthurium native to western Colombia and Ecuador. It is a member of the section Cardiolonchium, or the velvet-leaved Anthuriums, along with A. papillilaminum, A. regale, A. crystallinum, and others. It is one of many species used by curanderos in South America to treat snakebite.
