Iboza

Tetradenia riparia

''Tetradenia riparia'' is a species of flowering plant in the mint and sage family Lamiaceae. It is occasionally referred to as misty plume bush and is commonly used as a decorative garden plant due to its flowers when in full bloom. ''Tetradenia'' means 'four glands' and ''riparia'' translates to 'growing on banks of rivers'. This species was first described by botanists Codd in 1983.
Misty plume bush This pretty perennial is native to eastern South Africa and is common in damp places, often beside streams. 

It is densely branched, with succulent stems and light green, rounded velvety leaves. It bears tiny white to mauve, tubular flowers in 8 cm long spikes in early spring as can be seen  here. The leaves have a highly aromatic ginger scent.

This specimen was 1.5 m x 1.5 m.


 Australia,Flora,Geotagged,Ginger bush,Iboza,Lamiaceae,Lamiales,Misty plume bush,Nutmeg bush,Tetradenia riparia,Watersalie,Winter,botany,perennial,plant,white flowers

Appearance

It is a shrub that grows up to 2m high, occasionally reaching 5m. The foliage is sticky and smells pleasantly aromatic. The plant is deciduous and multi-stemmed while the branches are semi-succulent. The leaves are simple, large, heart-shaped and opposite. They are also coarsely toothed, thick-haired and sticky, and are 35-80 mm long. Leaves that are crushed have a ginger scent. Both sides are covered with a thin dark red lint.

The inflorescences are branched, large bunches at the ends of the shoots. About three millimeters in diameter and would appear in veins, the flowers range in color from white to lilac, and pink flowers are also found. Male flower spikes have more of the "mist" effect than the female flowers which tend to be more compact. Flowering occurs only in subtropical or temperate climates in wintertime when the plant is bare, in the top section of the branches, coinciding with the frost.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderLamiales
FamilyLamiaceae
GenusTetradenia
SpeciesT. riparia
Photographed in
Australia