Strawberry guava

Psidium cattleianum (Myrtaceae)

Evergreen shrub or slender tree up to 8m high with smooth, cylindrical branchlets. Dark green, smooth, shiny, thick and leathery leaves. White flowers from October to December. Purplish-red fruit with white, sweet flesh.


Sugar gum

Eucalyptus cladocalyx (Myrtaceae)

A tall slender, evergreen tree growing 15-40m high with smooth, flaky, tan-coloured bark. The dark green leaves are glossy above and pale below and the foliage is concentrated at the end of the branches. Cream flowers appear from October to February and the tree produces brown fruit capsules. The leaves are poisonous producing prussic acid. This tree invades fynbos, forest clearings, plantations, water courses and roadsides.


Sweet hakea

Hakea drupacea

A rounded shrub or tree up to 6m. Young growth is sparsely hairy. Dark green to grey-green smooth leaves divided into upright, sharp-pointed needles. Cream fragrant flowers from June to September. Woody fruit capsules containing a single winged seed, are yellowish-brown with dark warts.


Sweet prickly pear

Opuntia ficus-indica (Cactaceae)

A succulent, branched shrub or tree up to 3m high, which forms a sturdy trunk with age. Flattened leaf-like stems are grey to grey-green and are much longer than broad, varying from heavily spined to spineless. It has minute leaves and bright yellow or orange showy flowers appear from October to December. The yellowish, turning reddish, edible fruit is covered with minute spines.


Sword fern

Nephrolepis cordifolia

The sword fern typically grows in woodland areas. Fronds tend to be dull green in shaded areas and lighter green or yellowish-green when growing in a sunny position. Both fertile and sterile fronds are pinnate and 7cm wide. Rhizomes are orange-brown to pale brown with linear scales having hair-like tips. Numerous spore containing structures are produced between the leaflet midvein and margin. 


Syringa

Melia azedarach (Meliaceae)

A large spreading tree growing up to 23m high with reddish-brown, smooth bark. It has serrated dark glossy green leaves which turn yellow in autumn and clusters of purple to lilac flowers which are heavily scented and appear from September-November. Numerous green berries on turn yellow and wrinkled at the end of the season. The leaves, bark, flowers and ripe fruits are poisonous. This tree invades savanna, roadsides, urban open spaces, waste areas and river banks


Tall verbena

Verbena bonariensis

Tall verbena is a flowering herb with erect stems up to 2m tall which are noticeably square in cross-section and rough. Leaves are stalkless and clasping the stem at the base, thick textured, strongly veined beneath and the margins are sharply toothed. Flowers are purple, appearing in congested terminal spikes. 


Tickseed

Coreopsis lanceolata

This plant is a clump-forming perennial herb with short rhizomes. Leaves may or may not be hairy; basal leaves are divided and the upper leaves are entire and oval-shaped. The flower heads are borne singularly or in small groups on upright stems from April to June. They are 5.08 cm in length and yellow with a yellow center. The seed are dark brown, winged, and curved to almost semi-circular.


Tipu tree

Tipuana tipu

Large, massively branched, wide-spreading deciduous tree up to 23m high. Bright green, smooth leaves. Large sprays of golden-yellow flowers in late spring and summer. Yellowish-brown, seeded, winged pods 50-60mm long. Freely self-seeding.


Toon tree

Toona ciliata

Semiideciduous tree 10-35m high with a wide rounding crown and drooping foliage. Leaves are bright green and smooth. White or yellowish fragrant flowers appear from September to March. It produces green, woody capsules which turn brown and split open.