Scabiosa is a genus in the honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae) of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious, but some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as Knautia and Succisa; at least some of these were formerly placed in Scabiosa. Another common name for members of this genus is pincushion flowers.
Leucospermum is a genus of evergreen upright, sometimes creeping shrubs that is assigned to the Proteaceae, with currently forty-eight known species. Almost all species are easily recognised as Leucospermum because of the long protruding styles with a thickened pollen-presenter, which jointly give the flower head the appearance of a pincushion, its common name. Pincushions can be found in South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Vanilla, the vanilla orchids, forms a flowering plant genus of about 110 species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The most widely known member is the flat-leaved vanilla, native to Mexico, from which commercial vanilla flavoring is derived. It is the only orchid widely used for industrial purposes in flavoring such products as foods, beverages and cosmetics, and is recognized as the most popular aroma and flavor. The key constituent imparting its popular characteristics is the phenolic aldehyde, vanillin.
The genus Huernia consists of perennial, stem succulents from Eastern and Southern Africa and Arabia, first described as a genus in 1810.
Polygala is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world in temperate zones and the tropics. The genus name Polygala comes from the ancient Greek "much milk", as the plant was thought to increase milk yields in cattle.
A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or readily available food used to nourish people in times of hunger and starvation, whether caused by extreme poverty such as during economic depression; by natural disasters, such as drought; or by war or genocide.
Syzygium guineense is a leafy forest tree of the family Myrtaceae, found in many parts of Africa both wild and domesticated. Both its fruits and leaves are edible; the pulp and the fruit skin are sucked and the seed discarded. It is sometimes called "waterberry", but this may also refer to other species of Syzygium.
Mimetes hirtus is an upright, evergreen shrub of 1½–2 m high from the family Proteaceae. It has upright, overlapping, (broadly) lance-shaped leaves, without teeth, but with one thickened pointy tip. It has cylindric inflorescences topped by a pine apple-like tuft of pinkish-brownish, smaller and more or less horizontal leaves. The flowerheads are tightly enclosed by yellow, red-tipped bracts, only the 9–14 long red styles and the whitish silky tips of the perianth sticking out. It is primarily pollinated by the Cape sugarbird. It is an endemic species of the southwest of the Western Cape province of South Africa, and grows in wet zones at the base of south facing mountain slopes. Flower heads may be found from May to November, but peaks in July and August. The species has several vernacular names of which marsh pagoda seems to be used most.
Arisaema flavum is a species of flowering plant widespread across eastern Africa and southern Asia. It is native to Ethiopia, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Assam, Himalayas, Tibet, Yunnan, and Sichuan. The species epithet flavum is Latin for yellow and indicates its flower colour.
Anabasis is a genus of plants in the subfamily Salsoloideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It is distributed in southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia.
Leucospermum hypophyllocarpodendron is a creeping, mat-forming shrub with heads of yellow flowers and leathery, upright narrow leaves with some red-tipped teeth at their tips, from the family Proteaceae. It has long thin branches that originate from an underground rootstock and grows on poor, sandy soils in southwestern South Africa. The rose-scented flower heads can be found for August to January and are visited by different monkey beetles, bees and flies. It has two subspecies, one with greyish leaves U-shaped in cross section called grey snakestem pincushion in English and gruisslangbossie in Afrikaans, the other with green leaves that are flat in cross-section called green snakestem pincushion and groenslangbossie.
Iris aphylla is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris, and in the section Iris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Asia to Europe. It is found in Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Albania, Former Yugoslavia, Italy, Romania and France. It has dark green or bright green, sword-shaped, long grass-like leaves, that die/fade away in the winter. It also has a slender stem, with several branches and green and purplish spathes. It has 3–5 large flowers, in shades of bright purple, purple, violet, dark blue, blue-violet and dark violet, which bloom between spring and early summer. Occasionally, they re-bloom in the autumn, before the seed capsule is formed. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. There is one known subspecies Iris aphylla subsp. hungarica Hegi.
Iris benacensis is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from Italy. It has similar sized leaves and stem, and blue-purple shaded flowers, that have a white, blue and yellow beard. It was once classified as a synonym of Iris aphylla, before being re-classified as a species in its own right, although some sources still call it a synonym. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions.
Iris furcata, the forked iris, is a plant species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus Iris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the Caucasus mountains, in the countries of Moldavia and the southern Ukraine. It has short, narrow, sword-shaped leaves. A slender stem, that branches beyond the midpoint, holding small purple, deep purple, blue-violet, light blue or violet flowers. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It is often regarded as a synonym of Iris aphylla, but it has chromosomal and morphological differences, so it may considered to be a parent species instead.
Cadaba aphylla ("Swartstorm") is one of some 30 species in the genus Cadaba. It is indigenous to southern Africa.
Iris perrieri is a plant species in the genus Iris; it is also in the subgenus Iris. It is a rhizomatous perennial, from the Savoy Alps in southern France and recently in Italy. It has green, deeply ribbed, sickle shaped leaves, a slender stem with a branch, 1–3 scented flowers that are violet or purple, with a white or pale blue beard. It is rarely cultivated as an ornamental plant in temperate regions, due to its rarity in the wild. It was once thought to be a form of Iris aphylla, before cell (chromosome) analysis determined it to be a separate species.
Cadaba farinosa is a 2–8 m (6.6–26.2 ft) high evergreen shrub or small tree that belongs to the caper family. It has simple ovate leaves with entire margins, zygomorphic, spidery, greenish, yellowish, whitish or pinkish flowers, and is covered in powdery hairs or scales, particularly the younger parts. It can be found in a zone from Senegal to India between the desert and the savanna.
Leucospermum cordatum is an evergreen, creeping shrublet of about 20 cm (8 in) high from the family Proteaceae. It has pale cream flower heads, from which pink flushed styles emerge, the whole reminiscent of a pincushion. Its common name is heart-leaf pincushion in English. It flowers between July and December but the peak of the flowering period is from September to November. It is an endemic species, that is only known from two locations close to each other in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Leucospermum gracile is a low spreading shrub of 30–40 cm high and forms open mats of 1½ m (5 ft) in diameter, from the family Proteaceae. It has reddish flowering stems, oblong to linear leaves of 2–4½ cm (0.8–1.8 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in) wide, with one or three teeth. The initially yellow, later orange flower heads of 2½–3 cm (1.0–1.2 in) in diameter are flat-topped. The flower heads occur from July to October. From the flowers occur long styles with a slightly thicker tip, which together give the impression of a pincushion. It is called Hermanus pincushion in English. It naturally occurs in fynbos in the southern mountains of the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Vexatorella alpina, the Kamiesberg vexator, is an evergreen, upright shrub of up to about 1½ m high, in the family Proteaceae. It has entire, long inverted egg-shaped, bluish grey, leathery leaves of 3–4½ cm (1.2–1.8 in) long and 5–13 mm (0.2–0.5 in) wide on a distinct stalk, and globular flower heads of about 2 cm (0.8 in) across at the tip of the branches, and consisting of pale pink flowers with extended, thick-tipped styles. The plants are flowering from September to November. It is an endemic species that is restricted to the Kamiesberge in South Africa.
