Fynbos in the Cape Floral Kingdom
Fynbos,ericas,proteas,restios and bulbs in the Cape Floral Kingdom
What is Fynbos?
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).
Where can I find out more about fynbos?
To learn some tricks of the trade when growing fynbos, read about how to give fynbos the treatment it expects to ensure you don't tend it to death.
For a brilliant Introduction To Fynbos,
what it is, why it is so special, and other useful links, go
here.
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Let's Discuss Fynbos
Fynbos lovers Discussion Forum.
This is where you can share your experiences, frustrations and questions
about proteas and fynbos. Virtually meet others who love fynbos.
Occasionally we rope in experts to give advice on various topics.
Are there any books I can read?
If you are interested in books about fynbos, order them from Amazon.com through our site.
If there are any protea books that are not available from Amazon, but probably are available in South Africa, just send us a note and we will source it for you. (At one stage we thought of buying stock of a whole lot of books in case somebody wanted to buy them, but we just don't have the money to do that.)
Fynbos Fauna
Fynbos provides very poor grazing and does not support the game found elsewhere in South Africa. Do not expect to find large antelope and other big mammals here, but enjoy the birds and insects and other small animals and marvel at the richness and beauty of the flowers. You can see photos of some of the creatures on our farm here.
It is these creatures that prevented us from becoming a large protea exporter, since we aren't cruel enough to poison them just to end up with flowers so perfect you think they might be plastic ;-).