FFF398 - CRASSULA

Crassula perfoliata, also known as Crassula falcata, is given the common names 'airplane plant' and 'propeller plant' (because of the fanciful resemblance of the leaves to propellers). It is a succulent plant endemic to South Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope. The foliage is gray-green with striking texture, on plants that grow to 0.61 m tall. The flowers are tiny and scarlet red, that rise in dense clusters above the foliage for a month in summer.

This is a choice plant for use in drought tolerant and succulent gardens, and in container gardens. This plant flowers during summer (November to February in the Southern Hemisphere). Plants are pollinated by butterflies and the seeds are dispersed by the wind. The plants grow on outcrops and ledges in full sun. Plants are initially solitary but may sometimes have up to three heads later. During wet conditions the leaves become very turgid and during dry spells they become flattened and tinged reddish.

This plant grows easily and is best planted on rockeries in full sunlight. It would be excellent for dry thicket gardens. In regions where frost is experienced, it is best grown in containers in a greenhouse, or on windowsills under controlled conditions. Propagation is easily effected by division, leaf cuttings or seed. Seed germinates within 3 weeks and plants should flower in the fourth year. Leaf cuttings can be made during spring or summer and rooted in clean sand. They must be kept moist. Sulphur should be applied as a fungicide to wounds.

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FFF256 - DEWFLOWER

Drosanthemum ("dewflowers") is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae, native to the winter-rainfall regions of southern Africa. Most species bear colorful flowers. The name Drosanthemum means "Dew-flower" in Greek, and refers to the characteristic shiny translucent papillae, which cover the succulent leaves and flower buds.

The species shown here is Drosanthemum hispidum (Linn.). It is a succulent, mound-forming perennial, 60 cm tall, 90 cm wide, leaves up to 2.5 cm long. These leaves and the stems are covered with papillae looking like dew drops or glassy beads, glittering in the sun, hence the common name. Flowers are profuse and a rich purple or lavender. Blooming in summer, this plant forms a dazzling mound of colour for the well-drained garden.

The plant requires full sun and regular watering in summer. It should be kept rather dry in winter, and it does better with good drainage. It is a salt resistant plant.

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FFF246 - ALOE MACULATA

Aloe maculata (synonym Aloe saponaria; commonly known as the soap aloe or zebra aloe) is a Southern African species of aloe in the Asphodelaceae family. Local people in South Africa know it informally as the "Bontaalwyn" in Afrikaans, or "Lekhala" in the Sesotho language.

It is a very variable species and hybridises easily with other similar aloes, sometimes making it difficult to identify. The leaves range in colour from red to green, but always have distinctive "H-shaped" spots. The flowers are similarly variable in colour, ranging from bright red to yellow, but are always bunched in a distinctively flat-topped raceme. The inflorescence is borne on the top of a tall, multi-branched stalk and the seeds are reputedly poisonous.

This species was previously known as Aloe saponaria (a name that came from the Latin "sapo" meaning soap, as the sap makes a soapy lather in water - the juice from the leaves is traditionally used as soap by indigenous people). Its currently accepted name, according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), is Aloe maculata ("maculata" means speckled or marked). Taxonomically, it forms part of the Saponariae series of very closely related Aloe species, together with Aloe petrophila, Aloe umfoloziensis, Aloe greatheadii and Aloe davyana.

The Soap Aloe is highly adaptable and is naturally found in a wide range of habitats across Southern Africa, from Zimbabwe in the north, to the Cape Peninsula in the south. Specifically, it is native to southern and eastern South Africa, south-eastern Botswana and Zimbabwe. In addition, it is now planted around the world as a popular landscape plant in warm desert regions – especially in the United States, where it is the most popular ornamental aloe in the Tucson, Arizona area, and is also popular in California.

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FFF245 - AEONIUM

The genus Aeonium includes at least 35 species of tender, rosetted, leaf succulents mainly from the Canary Islands but also found in Madeira, Morocco and Ethiopia. These succulent plants vary in size from small herbs almost flat against the ground to woody shrubs with stout basal stems supporting one or more disc-shaped rosettes, giving them a distinctive appearance. The generic name comes from the Greek "aionion" = everliving.

Flowers are panicles of numerous small yellow or white florets. Some Aeonium species are monocarpic. Natural hybrids are common and there are many attractive horticultural hybrids and cutivars. The sap of Aeonium lindleyi is a traditional antidote to the toxic sap of Euphorbias e.g. E. canariensis. Aeonium includes the former genera Greenonium and Greenovia (Mountain Roses), which may be seen occasionally on plant labels and in old books. Many species were originally classified as Sempervivums.

Aeonium undulatum, shown here, is a succulent, evergreen subshrub, is one of the larger species of Aeonium with the rosette often over a metre from the ground on a single stem. Other rosettes do not branch off this stem (normally) but grow from the bottom, unlike most aeoniums. The plant is monocarpic so the flowering stem will die when it flowers which is normally after about 5 years. The specific epithet undulatum comes from the Latin unda, meaning "wave" and refers to the wavy leaves. Synonyms include Sempervivum undulatum and Sempervivum youngianum. The common name "saucer plant" is applied to this and other plants of a similar habit. In temperate regions this plant is grown under glass. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

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FFF171 - PORTULACA

Portulaca (purslane) is the type genus of the flowering plant family Portulacaceae, comprising about 40-100 species found in the tropics and warm temperate regions. They are also known as Moss Roses. The genus includes common purslane (Portulaca oleracea), whcih is widely considered an edible plant, and in some areas an invasive type of weed.

Seen here is a hybrid, Portulaca 'Sun Jewels', which are hardy, water saving plants that require minimal attention and produce a range of iridescent warm coloured flowers from spring to autumn, peaking in summer. These are still useful additions to salads, as all parts of the plant are edible.

Plant in full sun to part shade, in containers or hanging baskets so that this vibrant mix can spill over to spread their colours. Water only when soil dries out. Grows 30cm high x 30cm wide. It is of medium frost tolerance and also is salt tolerant.

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FFF40 - WHERE THE BEE SUCKS...

Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis. Currently, there are only seven recognised species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies, though historically, anywhere from six to eleven species have been recognised. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.

Most species have historically been cultured or at least exploited for honey and beeswax by humans indigenous to their native ranges. Only two of these species have been truly domesticated, one (Apis mellifera) at least since the time of the building of the Egyptian pyramids, and only that species has been moved extensively beyond its native range. Species of Apis are generalist floral visitors, and will pollinate a large variety of plants, but by no means all plants. Of all the honey bee species, only Apis mellifera has been used extensively for commercial pollination of crops and other plants. The value of these pollination services is commonly measured in the billions of dollars.

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