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Gasteria Tukhelensis
''Gasteria tukhelensis'', or Tugela gasteria, is a species of succulent plant native to the Tugela River valley in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Description The Tugela gasteria is a transitional species, between '' Gasteria batesiana'' to the north, and ''Gasteria croucheri ''Gasteria croucheri'', or Natal gasteria, is a succulent plant native to KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Description It is one of the larger Gasteria species (up to 400 by 600mm), closely related to '' Gasteria excelsa'' just to the sout ...'' to the south. It can be distinguished from the former by its smooth, glabrous, glossy leaves (although juvenile plants often have tubercles) and its large open rosettes. The leaves are dark green, with faint white spots in bands, and a keel on the underside. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q15513974 Flora of KwaZulu-Natal tukhelensis Endemic flora of South Africa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Succulent
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meaning "juice" or "sap". Succulents may store water in various structures, such as leaves and stems. The water content of some succulent organs can get up to 90–95%, such as '' Glottiphyllum semicyllindricum'' and '' Mesembryanthemum barkleyii''. Some definitions also include roots, thus geophytes that survive unfavorable periods by dying back to underground storage organs (caudex) may be regarded as succulents. The habitats of these water-preserving plants are often in areas with high temperatures and low rainfall, such as deserts, but succulents may be found even in alpine ecosystems growing in rocky or sandy soil. Succulents are characterized by their ability to thrive on limited water sources, such as mist and dew, which makes them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars from carbon dioxide and water, using the green pigment chlorophyll. Exceptions are parasitic plants that have lost the genes for chlorophyll and photosynthesis, and obtain their energy from other plants or fungi. Most plants are multicellular organism, multicellular, except for some green algae. Historically, as in Aristotle's biology, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi. Definitions have narrowed since then; current definitions exclude fungi and some of the algae. By the definition used in this article, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (green plants), which consists of the green algae and the embryophytes or land plants (hornworts, liverworts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tugela River
The Tugela River (; ) is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. With a total length of , and a drop of 1370 metres in the lower 480 km, it is one of the most important rivers of the country. The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the Drakensberg Mountains at an elevation of 3282 metres This has a very detailed description of the river's course. and plunges in five distinct free-leaping falls 947 metres down the Tugela Falls. The Mont-aux-Sources is also the origin of tributaries of two other major South African rivers, the Orange and the Caledon River. From the Drakensberg range, the Tugela follows a route through the KwaZulu-Natal midlands before flowing into the Indian Ocean. The total catchment area is approximately . Land uses in the catchment are mainly rural subsistence farming and commercial forestry. Tributaries The Tugela is fed by a number of tributaries coming off the Drakensberg, the largest being the Mzinyathi ("Buffalo") River ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and Natal Province. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean. It shares borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban, which is also the Port of Durban, city with the largest port in sub-saharan Africa. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, after Gauteng. Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. These areas are important to the surrounding ecosystems. During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was established as the Zulu Kingdom. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini; and it encloses Lesotho. Covering an area of , the country has Demographics of South Africa, a population of over 64 million people. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament of South Africa, Parliament, is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is regarded as the judicial capital. The largest, most populous city is Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and Durban. Cradle of Humankind, Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gasteria Batesiana
''Gasteria batesiana'', or knoppies gasteria, is a species of succulent plant native to the inland escarpment in the far north-east of South Africa. Description This relatively small, variable species of ''Gasteria'' has rough, pointed leaves, that eventually form a Rosette (botany), rosette (though leaves in seedlings are distichous as with all Gasterias). The mottled leaves usually have a strong keel, meaning that they are triangular in cross-section. They also have many tiny white spots, which occur in bands, giving a faint row of stripes on the leaves surfaces. It is closely related to the Natal gasteria (''Gasteria croucheri''), which occurs just to the south in KwaZulu-Natal. The distinctive variety of ''Gasteria batesiana'' which seems to be transitional between these two species, is now considered as a separate (though transitional) species in its own right, ''Gasteria tukhelensis''. Distribution It is the most northerly of all ''Gasteria'' species, occurring from no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gasteria Croucheri
''Gasteria croucheri'', or Natal gasteria, is a succulent plant native to KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Description It is one of the larger Gasteria species (up to 400 by 600mm), closely related to '' Gasteria excelsa'' just to the south, and to '' Gasteria batesiana'' to the north. It has smooth, thick, straight leaves. These are dark grey-green, and lightly spotted (though juvenile plants sometimes have some rough tubercles). In full sun or under stress, the leaves can assume a purple colour. The leaves have hard, waxy, white margins and keels. The upper surface of the leaves are slightly concave. They are lanceolate and trigonous, with a point that is rounded but with a tiny spike. Juvenile plants have distichous leaves (their flat leaves in two opposite ranks) but adult plants form an erect rosette, with thick, sharp, keeled leaves. The tall inflorescence appears at the beginning of summer. Distribution This species occurs mainly in KwaZulu-Natal Province as far n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of KwaZulu-Natal
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora as in the terms ''gut flora'' or ''skin flora'' for purposes of specificity. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...s, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work catalogui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gasteria
''Gasteria'' is a genus of succulent plants, native to South Africa and the far south-west corner of Namibia. Naming The genus is named for its stomach-shaped flowers (''"gaster"'' is Greek for "stomach") that result from the swollen base on the corolla. Common names include ''ox-tongue'', ''cow-tongue'', ''lawyer's tongue'' and, occasionally, ''mother-in-law's tongue''. Description Gasterias are recognisable from their thick, hard, succulent "tongue-shaped" leaves. These are either in two opposite ranks (distichous), or in various distinctive spiral arrangements. Their inflorescence is also unique, with their curved, stomach-shaped flowers, which hang from inclined racemes. Distribution The species of this genus are mostly native to the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, where the bulk of the species occur – especially in the small area between Makhanda and Uniondale which enjoys rainfall throughout the year. However, the distribution of several species extends widely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
