Barleria greenii flowering

Barleria greenii has a comparatively short formal history as a garden subject. It was only named botanically in 1984. If you have been growing it before then, you share in its prehistoric existence.

Go see it in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden and make a record for contemporary history. Makes you think about people without identity documents!

The white to deep pink, nearly regular corollas comprise five rounded petals that spread. There are also pale yellow-green calyces attenuating to acutely pointed tips in picture.

The natural distribution of B. greenii is only in a small part of KwaZulu-Natal between Weenen and Estcourt where it is threatened by human activities (Pooley, 1998; www.plantzafrica.com).