Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

Fynbos is the natural vegetation occurring along a narrow belt which stretches north and east of Cape Town. Most famous for its proteas (of which one, the king protea, is South Africa's national flower), this small area is, in fact, home to over 8000 species of plants. An astonishing 5000 of these do not occur anywhere else in the world and many are extremely rare and in danger of extinction. This is the smallest and, for its size, richest of the world's six floral kingdoms. Supporting 8500 species of plants, it is of international ecological and conservation importance. 

Why is fynbos so special

Characteristic fynbos plants are the proteas, restios (Cape reeds) and ericas (heaths). The biggest families are those of the daisies (over 1000 species), irises (600 species) and lilies (400 species). A real "fynbos special" is the heath family (Ericaceae), with 600 species, while the rest of the world can boast a mere 26! (Scotland, land of heather, has only 4!!) Many popular garden plants, such as pelargoniums (geraniums) and freesias, have their origin in fynbos. Table Mountain is home to approximately 1470 species of plants - more than the entire British Isles. Many of these are endemic (i.e. appearing nowhere else on Earth).