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2014 Fynbos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Cape Floral Kingdom (Capensis) is one of only
6 floristic kingdoms in the world. It is also the
smallest and richest per unit of area.
Peninsula Shale Fynbos flora on
Devils Peak, Cape Town.
Cape Floral Kingdom
Fynbos which grows in a 100-to-200-km-wide
coastal belt stretching from Clanwilliam on the West
coast to Port Elizabeth on the Southeast coast forms
part of the Cape floral kingdom, where it accounts for
half of the surface area and 80% of the plant species.
The fynbos in the western regions is richer and more
varied than in the eastern regions of South Africa.
Of the world's six floral kingdoms, this is the smallest
and richest per unit of area. The Holarctic kingdom in
contrast, incorporates the whole of the northern
hemisphere north of the tropical regions. The diversity of
fynbos plants is extremely high, with over 9000 species
of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which
are endemic, i.e. growing nowhere else in the world.
This level of diversity is comparable to tropical
rainforests or large islands and is unique in a relatively dry continental area. Of the Ericas, some 600 occur in the
fynbos kingdom, while only two or three dozen have been described in the rest of the world. This is in an area of
46,000 km by comparison, the Netherlands, with an area of 33,000 km, has 1400 species, none of them
endemic. Table Mountain in Cape Town supports 2200 species, more than the entire United Kingdom. Thus,
although the Fynbos comprises only 6% of the area of southern Africa, it has half the species on the
subcontinent and in fact has almost 1 in 5 of all African plant species so far described.
Five main river systems traverse the Cape floral kingdom: the Oliphants River of the Western Cape; the Berg
River which drains the West Coast Forelands plain stretching from the Cape Flats to the Olifants; the Breede,
which is the largest river on the Cape; the Olifants River (Southern Cape); Gourits and the Groot Rivers which
drain the Little Karoo basin and the South Coast Forelands; and the Baviaanskloof and Gamtoos Rivers to the
east.
Flora
The most conspicuous components of the flora are evergreen
sclerophyllous plants, many with ericoid leaves and gracile habit, as
opposed to timber forest. Several plant families are conspicuous in
fynbos; the Proteaceae are prominent, with genera such as Protea,
Leucospermum (the "pincushions"), and Leucadendron (the silver
tree and "cone bushes"). Proteas are represented by many species
and are prominent in the landscape, generally with large striking
flowers, many of which are pollinated by birds, and others by small
mammals. Most of these do not have anything like ericoid leaves, and
nor do most Rhamnaceae, Fabaceae, or Geraniaceae. Fynbos
Ericaceae include more species of Erica than all other regions
combined. They are popularly called heaths and are generally smaller
plants bearing many small, tubular or globular flowers and ericoid
leaves. Restionaceae also occur in greater variety in fynbos than anywhere else; their species are superficially
grass-like. Many of them grow in wet areas such as seasonal marshes and spongy basins in the sources of
mountain streams, but others grow in decidedly arid conditions.