Floral kingdom

The Cape Floral Region, comprising eight protected areas covering 553 000 ha, is listed as a World Heritage Site. It is one of the richest areas of plants in the world, representing less than 0.5% of the area of Africa, but 20% of the continent’s flora. The Fynbos vegetation, which is unique to the Cape Floral Region, has unique reproductive strategies and is highly adaptive to fire.

This Erica in bloom was photographed while hiking in the Jonkershoek mountains near Stellenbosch on 24 September 2005, our National Heritage day.