Agapanthus africanus, or the African lily, is a flowering plant from the genus Agapanthus found only on rocky sandstone slopes of the winter rainfall fynbos from the Cape Peninsula to Swellendam. It is also known as the lily-of-the-Nile in spite of only occurring in South Africa.
Fynbos is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate and rainy winters. The fynbos ecoregion is within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. In fields related to biogeography, fynbos is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity and endemism, consisting of about 80% species of the Cape floral kingdom, where nearly 6,000 of them are endemic. This land continues to face severe human-caused threats, but due to the many economic uses of the fynbos, conservation efforts are being made to help restore it.
Erica is a genus of roughly 857 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names heath and heather are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance. The genus Calluna was formerly included in Erica – it differs in having even smaller scale-leaves, and the flower corolla consisting of separate petals. Erica is sometimes referred to as "winter heather" to distinguish it from Calluna "summer heather".
Constantiaberg is a large, whale-backed mountain that forms part of the mountainous spine of the Cape Peninsula in Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town, South Africa. It lies about 7 km south of Table Mountain, on the southern side of Constantia Nek. The mountain is 927 m high. It is not known who first ascended the peak.
Erica plukenetii is a species of flowering plant native to the Cape region of South Africa. It belongs to the genus Erica. The species is morphologically variable, and five subspecies are recognised. The larger, variably coloured, flowers of E. plukenetii ssp. plukenetii are pollinated by sunbirds, whilst the smaller, exclusively white, flowers of E. plukenetii ssp. breviflora are moth pollinated.
Felicia aethiopica is a low shrublet of up to about 50 cm high that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. It has rigid, leathery, inverted egg-shaped leaves, with only the lowest pair set oppositely. It has flower heads with an involucre of about 8 mm in diameter with bracts that each contain three resin ducts, and have one whorl of twelve to fourteen ray florets with about 11 mm long and 1½ mm wide blue straps surrounding many yellow disc florets. The plant is called wild aster or dwarf Felicia in English, and wilde-aster or bloublombossie in Afrikaans. Flowering occurs year-round. Wild aster can be found in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.
Edward (Ted) George Hudson Oliver, is a South African Botanist and author. He is an expert in heathers. He has discovered and named several species. Oliver is the recognized world authority on the subfamily Ericoideae.
The Biodiversity of Cape Town is the variety and variability of life within the geographical extent of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, excluding the Prince Edward Islands. The terrestrial vegetation is particularly diverse and much of it is endemic to the city and its vicinity. Terrestrial and freshwater animal life is heavily impacted by urban development and habitat degradation. Marine life of the waters immediately adjacent to the city along the Cape Peninsula and in False Bay is also diverse, and while also impacted by human activity, the habitats are relatively intact.
Erica verticillata is a species of Erica that was naturally restricted to the city of Cape Town but is now classified as extinct in the wild.
Erica baccans, the berry heath, is a species of Erica that was naturally restricted to the city of Cape Town, South Africa.
Erica margaritacea, the pearl heath, is a species of Erica naturally restricted to the city of Cape Town. It is critically endangered.
Erica urna-viridis, the sticky heath or bottle-green heath, is a species of Erica that was naturally restricted to the city of Cape Town, South Africa, in particular the Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos of Table Mountain.
Tokai Park, previously known as "Tokai Forest", is a small wing, about 600 ha, of the greater Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. Tokai Park is made up of two sections: upper and lower Tokai Park. Lower Tokai Park is flat, and characterized by the threatened Cape Flats Sand Fynbos. Upper Tokai Park is on the slopes of Constantiaberg Mountain, and consists of conservation area as well as the Tokai Arboretum. Upper Tokai Park is characterized by Peninsula Granite Fynbos, Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos and Afromontane Forest and noted for its diversity.
Erica grandiflora is a species of Erica found in fynbos on the mainland Western Cape, South Africa. E. grandiflora was described by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in 1782, and was reclassified as Erica abietina subsp. aurantiaca by Oliver & Oliver in 2002. More recently, phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data have revealed that it is more closely related to mainland Western Cape species including Erica viscaria than it is to Cape Peninsula endemic Erica abietina subspecies, and should therefore be treated as a separate species. It includes two subspecies which can be most easily distinguished on the basis of their distinctive flower colours.
Erica peltata is a species of Erica heath endemic to the fynbos region of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Erica comorensis is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family (Ericaceae). It is endemic to the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean. It grows from .5 to 2 meters high.
Diastella thymelaeoides subsp. thymelaeoides, the Kogelberg silkypuff, is a subspecies of Diastella thymelaeoides that belongs to the genus Diastella and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Western Cape and occurs in the Hottentots Holland Mountains and northern Kogelberg around the Steenbras Dam. The shrub grows erect and grows only 1.5 m tall and flowers throughout the year with a peak from August to November.
Ixia scillaris is a perennial cormous flowering plant in the genus Ixia. It is endemic to a small portion of the Fynbos in the Western Cape.
