Schoebutton ardisia

Ardisia elliptica

Evergreen, glabrous shrub or small tree to 5 m tall, with smooth stems and new foliage often reddish. It is listed in the Global Invasive Species Database, where it is regarded to be among the top 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species.Due to its high reproductive output and high shade-tolerance, very dense carpets of seedlings can form underneath adults in ideal conditions.


Scotch broom

Cytisus scoparius

A deciduous shrub up to 4m high with many slender, erect, prominently ridged or grooved, green branches which become almost leafless and rush-like. Small dark green leaves. Bright yellow flowers mostly solitary or paired, appear from September to March. Brownish-black, smooth, poisonous pods which have silky hairs at the margin. This plant invades  grassland, forest margins and roadsides. The seed pods are poisonous.


Screw pod wattle

Acacia implexa

A small spreading tree 3-15m high with greyish-green curved leaves, originating from Australia. Flower which appear in summer are pale yellow to cream fluffy and round, there are usually 4-8 flowers on a central axis. The pale brown, long seed pods are straight when young, but become twisted and coiled to allow the release of the seeds. Pods are 6-20 cm long, 6-7 mm wide, and firmly papery to leathery.


Sheep's sorrel

Rumex acetosella

A perennial herb that has a slender and reddish upright stem that is branched at the top, reaching a height of (0.5 meters). The arrow-shaped leaves are small, slightly longer than (3 cm), and smooth with a pair of horizontal lobes at the base. It blooms during March to November, when yellowish-green (male) or reddish (female) flowers develop on separate plants at the apex of the stem, which develop into the red fruits.Rumex acetosella) is widely considered to be a hard-to-control noxious weed due to its spreading rhizome. Blueberry farmers are familiar with the weed because it thrives in the same conditions under which blueberries are cultivated.


Shell ginger

Alpinia zerumbet

Shell Ginger is a 4- to 8-foot-tall herbaceous perennial that is used in the landscape for its attractive foliage and shell-like flowers. The leaves of this plant are green and yellow variegated and are quite striking. They are 18 to 24 m long and have a distinct, spicy fragrance. The white, fragrant flowers of the shell ginger are borne in drooping clusters toward the stem ends.


Silky hakea

Hakea sericea (Proteaceae)

A very prickly shrub or tree up to 5m high with numerous branches starting at the base. Young twigs covered in short, fine hairs, older stems smooth. Dark green to grey-green, smooth, needle-shaped leaves. Cream, small flowers from June to September. Wooden fruit capsules which are purplish-brown with paler markings


Silver leaf cotoneaster

Cotoneaster pannosus (Rosaceae)

Shrub up to 3m high with arching branches and showy, berry-like fruits. The branchlets and lower surfaces of the leaves are densely white- or yellowish and felty in texture. It has dull green hairy leaves. White flowers appear from August to January and it produces dull deep red berries. Invasive in grasslands, forest margins, kloofs, river banks and rocky outcrops


Silver wattle

Acacia dealbata (Fabaceae)

A fast-growing evergreen tree or shrub, reaching heights of 5-10m, the silver wattle is largely problematic in areas of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Free State and Gauteng.  It has short leaflets with fine hairs and usually silvery-grey in colour. Blooming in July and August, flowers are bright yellow. 


Silver-leaf bitter apple

Solanum elaeagnifolium (Solanaceae)

An herbaceous shrub growing to up 60cm high with felty stems and deep, spreading roots. The stems and undersurfaces of the leaves are covered with white or silvery, felt-like hairs. Orange or reddish prickles on the stems and undersides of the leaves. Greyish or silvery-green leaves, often wavy and folded upwards along their midribs. Mauve, blue or white flowers. It produces shiny green berries with white patches turning yellow. The young fruits and leaves are poisonous.


Singapore daisy

Sphagneticola trilobata

Creeping, mat-forming perennial herb up to 70cm high with rounded stems to 2m or more long that root at the nodes. Fleshy, hairy leaves that are irregularly toothed or serrated, dark green above and paler below. Yellow flowers from spring to autumn.