Page 32 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

30  INTRODUCING SOUTH AFRIC A

The Landscapes and The Cape Floral
Flora of South Africa Kingdom
The Southwestern Cape,
South Africa’s flora has charmed visitors and one of the world’s six
intrigued botanists for years. Many species are floral kingdoms, boasts
almost 9,000 different
widely distributed within the country, but each plants in an area less
region has produced distinct characteristics, the Pelargonium than 4 per cent of
result of varying geographic, climatic and soil the southern African land
conditions. In the more arid western reaches of the surface. This so-called fynbos (fine-leaved
country, plants tend to be small and low-growing, bush vegetation) includes some 350 species
flowering briefly after the winter rains, while fur ther of protea, as well as pelargoniums, ericas,
reeds and irises. Most are endemic to the area,
east, open grassland and bush veld dominate. Lush and are well represented in the Kirstenbosch
subtropical coastal forests grow along the East Coast. National Botanical Garden (see pp164–5).
Semi-Desert
In southern Africa, true desert is
confined to the Namib. The semi-
desert Great Karoo region covers
about one-third of South Africa. Its
flora has evolved to withstand aridity Succulent
and extreme temperatures. Many
succulents, including the aloes, mesembryanthemums,
euphorbias and stapelias, store water in their thick
leaves or roots. The seeds of daisy-like ephemeral plants
may lie dormant for years, only to germinate and flower
briefly when the conditions are favourable (see pp220–
21). Trees tend to grow along seasonal river courses.
Namaqualand (see pp220–21)
Many succulent plants in this region survive only
through the condensation of nightly mists that
roll in from the Atlantic Ocean. Adaptation has led
to many bizarre species, such as the kokerboom
(quiver tree), half-mens (half-human), and the
insectivorous plants of the Stapelia genus.
Dwarf shrubs and scraggy bushes are
widely spaced over dusty land
that is bare for most of the year,
until even modest winter rains
raise dense, multi-hued crops
Vygies of daisy-like vygie blossoms.
Temperate Forest
Dense evergreen forests thrive in the high-
rainfall area around Knysna (see pp244–5).
They produce lovely rare hardwoods such as
stinkwood and yellowwood, two types that
also occur along the subtropical coastal belt of
KwaZulu-Natal. Knysna’s temperate
forests have a characteristic
under growth of shrubs,
ferns, fungi, and creepers
such as the wispy “old
man’s beard”. Mature trees
may reach a height of
60 m (195 ft), with a girth Forest fungus
of 7 m (23 ft).

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