Cape Flora -- at its most beautiful in August!

Cape Flora

The Cape Flora is one of the wonders of the world.  This flora is known as fynbos (fine bush) because it consists largely of fine-leafed and compact vegetation.  The Cape Flora itself makes up one of the six floral kingdoms of the world, situated in a tiny area of 90,000 square kilometres on the southern tip of Africa. 

By contrast, most of the Northern Hemisphere is home to the Boreal Kingdom, which covers an area of 50 million square kilometres. The richness of this area in terms of floral diversity is astonishing.  Not even the richest parts of Amazonia come close.  Table Mountain, itself an area of less than 57 square kilometres has the same number of plant species as the British Isles.  This gives some idea of the amazing floral treasure on the doorstep of the city of Cape Town, literally in walking distance from the city centre.  Unfortunately, due to the limited area of this floral kingdom, its integrity is under enormous threat from human expansion and invasive alien vegetation.  One of the peak flowering times for fynbos is late winter and early spring, so that August, the month of the Cape Town Congress, would be an opportune time for those who wish to experience this floral wonder.