Indian shot

Canna indica (Cannaceae)

A perennial shrub with erect, leafy shoots 1-2m high. Large green or purple-bronze leaves sheathing the stem. Narrow flowers are red or orange, usually yellow below and the plant produces green, spiny fruits


Indian three-leaf vitex

Vitex trifolia

Vitex trifolia is a relatively small tree found primarily in countries that border on the Pacific and Indian oceans. It grows up to a maximum of about 8m, Vitex trifolia can either be regarded as a shrub or a small variety of tree. Its bark is a gray or brown color, and the leaves are generally about 12cm.


Inkberry

Cestrum laevigatum

Inkberry is an evergreen shrub or tree growing 1-2m high, but reaching 15m or more along the coastal regions. This poisonous plant has lance-shaped leaves and greenish-yellow, tube-shaped flowers, which appear from October to May.


Invading ageratum

Ageratum conyzoides (Asteraceae)

Annual with fluffy flower-heads and green, purplish or reddish stems 30cm-1m high. Bright green leaves. Mauve, blue, pinkish or white flowers all year on 4-5mm heads. This plant is poisonous.


Jacaranda

Jacaranda mimosifolia (Bignoniaceae)

The best-known city tree in Johannesburg and Pretoria - a deciduous or semi-deciduous tree up to 22m high with a rounded, spreading crown. Dark green, hairy, finely divided and fern-like leaves which turn yellow in late autumn or winter. Attractive mauve-blue to lilac or rarely white, tubular flowers produced in pyramidal sprays at the ends of usually leafless branches, flowering from September-November. Oval, flattish, woody green capsules about 60mm long, which turn brown and split open after about a year to release numerous flat, winged seeds. It invades savanna, wooded kloofs, rocky ridges and river banks.


Jambolan

Syzygium cumini

Evergreen tree 5-10m high with white or grey branchlets. Pale- or yellowish-green, glossy, thick leaves with lateral veins very close together. White or yellowish-green flowers in much-branched, many-flowered clusters from October to April. Purplish-red, one-seeded berries that are oval to pear-shaped, 15-25mm long.


Japanese honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica

It is a twining vine able to climb up to 10 metres high or more in trees, with opposite, simple oval leaves 3-8 centimetres. This species has mainly become naturalised in or near rainforests and other closed forests, particularly those close to habitation. It also grows in riparian areas, distrubed sites and waste areas in wetter temperate, sub-tropical and tropical regions.


Japanese knotweed

Fallopia japonica

Japanese knotweed is an herbaceous perennial with tubular, glabrous stems that ascend from an erect base. It has hollow stems with distinct raised nodes that give it the appearance of bamboo. While stems may reach a maximum height of 3-4m each growing season, it is typical to see much smaller plants in places where they sprout through cracks in the pavement. 


Japanese thistle

Cirsium japonicum

A clump-forming biennial or perennial shrub growing 1-2m high, with pointed, spiny, toothed leaves dark green in colour. The rose-pink to lilac thistle-like flowers appear in late summer and early autumn.


Japanese wax-leaved privet

Ligustrum japonicum (Oleaceae)

An evergreen shrub or small tree 3-6m high. Dark, almost black-green, thick, leathery, glossy leaves sometimes variegated in green and yellow. Heavily, scented white flowers appear in large terminal clusters from October to February followed by shiny black berries. The leaves and fruits are poisonous even though birds eat the fruits.