Flora

I've organized my plant photos into groups--there are so many pictures--and my goal is to make it easy for you to navigate. The plants are listed by Latin names, of course. If I know a common name, I'll include it. If you know a common name, e-mail it to me.

South Africa is a horticultural hotspot for good reason. According to Colin Paterson-Jones, in his book entitled "The Cape Floral Kingdom," southernmost South Africa encompasses a region of vegetative abundance unique in the world. This area is called (as his book title indicates) the Cape Floral Kingdom, and is one of the six floristic kingdoms into which the planet is divided. This small portion of the earth is in the top 20 of 200 important ecological regions recognized by The World Wildlife Fund's global conservation campaign. More plant species are packed into this small geographic region than anywhere else on the planet.

Furthermore, many plants of the Cape Floral Kingdom are unique. Approximately 20 percent of over 950 genera are found in the Cape Floral Kingdom, and 68 percent of the more than 8500 species are endemic, according to Paterson-Jones. Five endemic plant families are unique: Stilbaceae, Penaeaceae, Geissolomata, Roridulaceae and Grubbiaceae. Three plant families of particular interest to horticulturists, Proteaceae, Mesembryanthemaceae and Restionaceae are among the region's ten largest families.

Within the Cape Floral Kingdom is a type of vegetation called fynbos (pronounced fain-boss, translated from Afrikaans as "fine bush") that is characterized by the presence of proteas, restios and ericas, among others. Geophytes are also widespread among the fynbos, being particularly well-adapted to the cyclical drought patterns typical of the rocky, mountainous geography of fynbos. (The iris family, Iridaceae, is also one of the Cape's ten most abundant plant families.)

Other vegetative types that characterize the Cape are renosterveld, named for the renosterbos, Elytropappus rhinocerotis. Renosterbos reminds me of the sagebrush deserts of the northwest US, and thrives in a similarly dry climate. Karoo, a subtropical desert environment, is characterized by succulents including the "mesembs," euphorbias, aloes and others.

Studying the flora of the Cape Floral Kingdom is a lifetime's work. Many have undertaken this task and can explain this special region better than I can. For an overview, illustrated with beautiful photographs, I recommend Colin Patterson-Jones' book, "The Cape Floral Kingdom," published by Struik Publishers and available through Silverhill Seed Company's website. Also read just about anything by John Manning--I enjoy his "Photographic Guide to the Wildflowers of South Africa," published by Briza Publications and also available through Silverhill Seeds. (Colin Paterson-Jones contributes photos to this book, as well.) I also picked up a good book, "Restios of the Fynbos" by Els Dorrat Haaksma and H. Peter Linder, published by the Botanical Society of South Africa.