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Wild flowers and fynbos of the Western Cape region
Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is world famous and recognized as one of the greatest botanical gardens in the world. Few gardens can match the beauty and setting of Kirstenbosch against the slopes of Table mountain and as part of a nature reserve.
Kirstenbosch was established in 1913 as a project to conserve and promote the splendid floral riches of Southern Africa.and was the first botanical garden in the world to be devoted to the country’s indigenous plants. Although Kirstenbosch lies in the heart of the Cape Floristic Region, also known as the Cape Floral Kingdom and Fynbos forms an important part of the display, it also includes plants form all the diverse biomes in Southern Africa. Also included is a near-complete collection of Cycads. The Botanical Society Conservatory s a custom-built glasshouse to grow and exhibiting plants from the arid regions, eg. Savanna and Karoo, that cannot survive outdoors.
The Kirsten part of the name is believed to refer to the surname of the manager of the land, J.F. Kirsten, in the 18th century. The bosch part of the name is a Dutch word for ‘forest’ or “bush”. The land was thereafter purchased by Cecil John Rhodes in 1895, but became very neglected. At his death in 1902 this land was bequeathed to the South African nation. In 1913 the land was set aside by the government to develop as a botanical garden. There was no money available for a salaried director, but Pearson, a professor at the Cape Town university accepted the position without pay. Pearson commenced the work to establish the garden on this neglected property with very limited funds available to him.
To-day Kirstenbosch is very popular with not only visitors walking around the extended gardens, but also hikers who start their trail up Table mountain from here. Two of the best known trails are the Skeleton Gorge and Nursery Ravine routes.
Kirstenbosch has already won a number of gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show in London for their displays.
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Fynbos adaption and survival
As Fynbos vegetation grows in nutrient poor soils and a Mediterranean climate with dry summers, adaption is important to ensure survival. Ironically, it is believed that the poor soils, due to various factors, actually increase diversity and speciation.
The roots of some Fynbos plants have adapted to increase the absorption of minerals from the soil. Ericas, for instance, use a symbiotic relationship with a soil fungus called Mycorrhiza that enhances the plants capacity for the absorption of water and minerals. The plants gain the ability to extract poorly soluble nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen and in turn carbohydrates will be released to the fungus.
The Protea family have developed additional root growth to survive poor soils and occasional droughts. The fine rootlets, on or close to the surface, absorbs surface moisture for optimum use of a small amount of water.
The Pea family use a symbiotic association with nitrogen fixing bacteria that enables them to convert nitrogen in the air to a form that can be absorbed by the plant.
Many shrubs, like the Aloe, deter predators by storing bitter tannins in its leaves.
Leaves are small and narrow and often covered with hairs to prevent water loss. Proteas typically turn their leaves with the sides to the sun to reduce the sun’s drying out effect.
Flowering occurs mainly during spring when the pollinating agents are most active, although there are always an number of species flowering during all the months of the year. Some Fynbos bulbs will bloom during the dry summer when there are less competition for the available pollinators. Some species of the Amaryllidaceae family flowers towards the end of dry summer to ensure that seeds are shed at the beginning of the winter rains when conditions are favourable for germination.
As there are relatively shortage of insects in the Western Cape, Fynbos quite often have beautiful and colourful flowers to attract pollinating insects. Bird pollinators are attracted by the sugars in the nectar produced by the flowers. Production of nectar is well suited to Fynbos, as the sugar in nectar are produced mainly from carbon, which the plant can extract freely from the air, as opposed to the limited available minerals from the poor soils.
As seeds are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus which are in short supply in the poor soils, the production of seeds are restricted. To maximize the germination rate of the available supply, various methods are employed, like protection from predators by encasing them in hard shells, utilizing ants to bury the seeds or only allow germination when conditions are the most favourable.
Some Fynbos species can not only survive veld fires, but are actually dependent on it for survival. Fires are an essential part of Fynbos ecology as it rejuvenate vegetation by removing moribund growth, put essential nutrients back in the soil and stimulates germination of seeds.
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Chelsea Flower Show
The Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show in London is probably the best known flower show in the world. The south African exhibition is organised by the Kirstenbosch National Botanical gardens and usually focus strongly on Fynbos and specifically Proteas.
In 2013 South Africa won its 33rd gold medal for its display and in 2006 won the Lawrence Medal for the Best Exhibit. The display in 2013 was also the celebration of Kirstenbosch’s centenary.
The Chelsea flower show plays an important part in the countries tourism drive with visitors at the show flocking to visit the South African stand.
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Botanical names versus common names.
A botanical name ( usually based on Latin ) is a formal scientific name and it conforms to the International code of Nomenclature for plants, with the purpose to have a formal, specific name that is accepted universally for a particular plant.
The botanical name is made up out of three elements or parts – the family, genus and specie. The botanical name for the Red Disa, for instance, is Orchidaceae disa uniflora.
The family is Orchidaceae
The genus is disa
The specie is uniflora
The problem with common names are that plants are called by different names by different people in different regions and in different languages. Plants are named after certain characteristics or qualities, often medicinal, and are usually very descriptive and colourful, but can be very confusing with friends arguing about the correct name of a flower. Nevertheless, common names are part of our heritage and should be preserved.
With botanical names sounding meaningless to the layman and common names confusing due to the variety, it is probably a good idea to try and learn both botanical and common name.
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One of the best ways to experience the beauty and diversity of the Western Cape Flora is by walking the mountains and hiking trails of this area. This is a very relaxing and pleasurable way to spend your weekends and it allows the tranquillity of nature to clear your body and soul of the stresses of the daily rat race.
Although Fynbos is the best known of the indigenous plants of the Western Cape, it is not the only vegetation type, but also includes some Afro-montane forest, Renosterfield and Karoo shrubland. Early botanical visitors to Cape town were stunned by the beauty of the Cape flora and amazed at the unbelievable variety and diversity.
Due to the diversity of the vegetation with literally thousands of different species, it is obviously impossible to identify all the various plants if you are not a botanical expert.
Nevertheless, it would be gratifying to know the names of at least some of the more common ones or those that are exceptionally beautiful.
Hopefully this web site will help you to identify at least some of the plants you will encounter on your walks. I have also included photos of a few alien invaders, because although they are not indigenous, you will quite probably come across a few of them as well.
There is certainly not a shortage of trails in the Cape Town area, catering for all levels of fitness. As flowering plants bloom at different times of the year, there is every time something new to see.
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The botanical world is divided in six floral regions or biomes.
The largest biome is the Boreal which covers just about the whole of the northern hemisphere.
The Cape Floral Kingdom is by far the smallest in area and South Africa is the only country in the world that harbours an entire floral kingdom. However, notwithstanding its size it is also the richest by far of all the biomes. It stretches from Vanrhynsdorp in the Northwest to Port Elizabeth in the east. In the Cape peninsula alone there are more flowering species in the Cape Floristic region than in the whole of Great Britain. Confined to the southern tip of Africa and thousands times smaller that the Boreal it still boasts a richness, diversity and density that is unique in the botanical world. There are more that 2,600 species of indigenous plants on Table mountain alone and many are rare and many are found only here and nowhere else.
Fynbos is a very important part of our botanical heritage with its amazing variety and the beauty of its flowers; from the delicate splendour of the Red Disa to the spectacular King Protea. Among some of the well known groups that contribute to this floral diversity are the Proteas,Irises, Daisies, Ericas and Vygies. Many of these plant species are found nowhere else in the world. The Staavia dodii ( commonly known as Diamond eyes ), for instance, is only found in one small area in The Cape Point nature reserve.
Fynbos is best defined as evergreen, hard-leaved shrubland growing in nutrient poor soils.
The plants of a specific area are the product of the soil and climate of the region. Sporadic fires are an essential part of the Fynbos ecology as the fire rejuvenate plants by removing dry and moribund growth and recycle the nutrients back into the soil.However, fires should not occur more often than every 10 to 14 years. Some species will only appear after fires. Fynbos is adapted to thrive in poor soils and it actually contributes to the floral diversity.
Capetonians are indeed privileged to live in a region with such a rich floral diversity, but sadly many are not even aware of this botanical treasure.
Although Fynbos is famous in the botanical world, this term has only been used commonly for the distinctive vegetation of the Western Cape since the latter part of the 20th century. Fynbos can be translated from Afrikaans as “fine shrub” and ironically probably referred to its use as “fine wood” or kindle wood to start a fire in earlier times.
This Floral kingdom is also under threat from various enemies and only about half the species survived since Jan van Riebeeck’s time. Fynbos areas are invaded not only by farmlands and housing, but also alien invaders like Black Wattle, Port Jackson, Rooikrans,Pines and Hakea. Climate change caused by global warming may also pose further threats.
Only a small part is protected and apart from species already extinct, more than a thousand other species are also endangered. Biological control is probably the best answer to protect against invaders. A fungus imported from Australia is used successfully against the Port Jacksons and the gall wasp, also from Australia, to control Wattle.
Conservation is important so that future generations can still enjoy it and to maintain a proper environment for animals depending on it for survival. A takeover by aliens also has a devastating effect on diversity, soil erosion and water conservation. Fynbos also has some economic value as it can promote eco tourism, some can be cultivated as garden plants, many species are used in traditional medicines and some, for instance Rooibos, Restios and Protea flowers, are harvested and even exported.
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