White ginger lily

Hedychium coronarium (Zingiberaceae)

A vigorous plant up to 2m high. Broad, bright green leaves which sheath the stems. Fragrant flowers in spikes up to 30cm long from January to April. Each flower has a slender tube with three narrow and three broad, petal-like lobes. Flowers are white, sometimes yellow at the base.


White moonflower

Ipomoea indica (Convolvulaceae)

A herbaceous twining perennial with hairy stems up to 3m or more. Bright green, sparsely hairy, heart-shaped leaves. Purplish-blue, reddish, magenta or white funnel-shaped flowers, sometimes with contrasting stripes appear from November to May.


White mulberry

Morus alba (Moraceae)

A deciduous tree growing up to 15m high with a round canopy and greyish branches and light green leaves with finely serrated margins which turn yellow in autumn. Small greenish flowers form in cylindrical spikes and appear in spring, followed by juicy bulbous reddish-black edible fruits. This tree invades savanna, grasslands, roadsides, river banks and urban open spaces


White poplar

Populus alba (Salicaceae)

A deciduous tree growing up to 16m high which suckers freely with white or grey bark with horizontal lines that becomes rough and darker with age. Buds and young twigs are thickly white and woolly. The dark green leaves are shiny above and white or grey and woolly beneath. Greenish-yellow catkins appear in spring. It invades river banks, vleis and dongas.


White tussock

Nassella tenuissima (Poaceae)

A compact, tufted perennial grass growing up to 1m high which turns distinctly white in winter. Fine, bristly leaves are rough to the touch. Slender, compact inflorescences 10-30cm long included in the tuft in January. Seed bristles often become entangled forming dense 'nests'.


White-flowered Mexican poppy

Argemone ochroleuca subsp. ochroleuca (Papaveraceae)

A very spiny annual herb growing up to 90cm high with stems that exude a yellow sap when cut. Grey or bluish-green spiny leaves with prominent white veins. Pale yellow or creamy white flowers appear from September to January. Spiny, oblong green fruit capsules turn 


Wigandia

Wigandia urens

Sparsely branching , large leaved, evergreen shrub to 3m high with yellow or rusty hairs on stems and leaves, produces suckers. Leaves dark to yellowish green, broadly ovate, apex rounded, with yellow or rusty stinging hairs beneath, up to 600 mm long, margins irregularly toothed, on the petioles up to 100 mm. Flowers are violet or blue, five lobed to 30 mm across.


Wild Sunflower

Verbesina enceliodes

Annual erect herb 0.5-1.0 m high, with flowers resembling small sunflowers. Flowers heads one to several, disc florets yellowish orange, they bloom between summers to autumn. Leaves silvery green in colour with small white hairs beneath, mostly alternate but opposite towards the base, oval to lance-shaped, 30-80mm long, margins coarsely toothed. Seeds are brown to blackish in colour, flat, winged along the margins, 3.5-5mm long.


Wild tobacco

Nicotiana glauca (Solanaceae)

An evergreen shrub or small tree growing up to 6m high with blue-green, leathery leaves, sometimes with purplish tints. Yellow, tubular flowers appear in terminal, drooping clusters all year. Brown, four-valved fruit capsules contain tiny seeds. This plant is poisonous.


Willow hakea

Hakea salisifolia

Willow hakea is a shrub or small tree adapted to a Mediterranean climate. It is capable of surviving hot, dry summers but not restricted to these conditions. It flowers in spring and early summer (September to January) in South Africa. Infestations of this plant replace indigenous vegetation and prevent the regeneration of indigenous species.