Durban Poison, Swazi Gold, Malawi Gold and the Wild Coast's own: where Southern Africa's landraces come from, and the growers who kept their seed.
2 min read · By Herbal Holland · Published · Updated
3 quick questions. Herbal Holland Rewards members earn 10 points (worth R10) for getting them all right (once per guide).
Herbal Holland is for adults only. Please confirm your age to continue.
By entering you agree to our terms and privacy notice. We remember your answer with a cookie.
Long before a Dutch coffee-shop menu listed them, Southern Africa's landraces were being shaped by the people who grew them, selected season after season on the hillsides of KwaZulu-Natal, the highlands of Eswatini, the lakeshore plains of Malawi and the steep valleys of the Wild Coast. A landrace is a local variety that has adapted to its place over generations: the soil, the sun, the rain and the hands that kept its seed.
Herbal Holland exists because of that story. Our name nods to Amsterdam, where many of these cultivars became famous; our roots are here.
From the hills behind Durban, Durban Poison left South Africa in the 1970s, when seeds were carried to the United States and on to Amsterdam's seed banks. It went on to become a global benchmark.
Swazi Gold comes from the Eswatini highlands, where it was traditionally dried in the sun on the mountain slopes, which gives it the golden colour in its name. Malawi Gold, from around Salima, is famously patient: it can take around 120 days to flower, and was traditionally wrapped in maize leaves.
A landrace is a library. Every seed carries a season's worth of decisions made by the people who grew it.
Pondoland, on the Eastern Cape's Wild Coast, has one of the country's oldest growing traditions. Some growers believe Durban Poison itself partly descends from Mpondo lines.
Stores: KwaZulu-Natal (Durban, Pietermaritzburg)
For adults 18 and older only. Keep all products out of reach of children and pets. Licensed medicines are supplied only to registered patients with a valid SAHPRA authorisation, by an authorised dispenser. Nothing on this site is medical advice.
© 2026 Vantax (Pty) Ltd. Herbal Holland stores are independently owned and operated by franchisees.