The diversity of fynbos plants is extremely high, with over 9000 species of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which are endemic, i. e. they do not grow anywhere else in the world.

The grass-like restios, only a few species of which are known outside the fynbos area, grow in wetter areas.

These inhabit a wide range of habitat and contain the plesiomorphic Natal Midlands Dwarf Chameleon from the namesake region, the small Black-headed Dwarf Chameleon which inhabits fynbos and other low forest on slopes of mainly coastal W KwaZulu-Natal, and another probable new species from the Gilboa Forest area.

Even so, it is unable to utilize the natural vegetation ( fynbos ) found in the area, a factor which has helped to limit its spread.

These age states indicated that the life-history strategy in terms of age states was similar to that of other fynbos plants and showed remarkable synchronization with the suggested fire frequency of about 15 to 20 years for this area.

Rondebosch Common, once a military campground, is declared a national monument and is also an important fynbos conservation area.

Some fynbos species from the Bredasdorp area were named after him: Gladiolous guthriei, Erica guthriei and Homoglossum guthriei, as well as the genus Guthriea Bolus.

The area is a botanist ’ s dream with an abundance of wild flowers and fynbos.

Large parts of the fynbos region have been inhabited for centuries, and only a small portion is protected.

The klipspringer lives from the Cape of Good Hope, where it is found in mountain fynbos, through the rest of Southern Africa, where it is found in rocky koppies in woodland and savanna, north to East Africa and into the highly mountainous highlands of Ethiopia.

It inhabits mainly open country, from open grassland plains with scattered thickets to semidesert scrub, and also extending into fynbos.

The fynbos habitat is similar to a low shrubland or heathland, dominated by low evergreen shrubs.

The Iridaceae are a prominent family, forming characteristic components of several ecoregions such as fynbos.

Particular types of lowland fynbos include: the shrubs and herbs of the coastal sand dunes ; the mixture of ericoids and restoids with thickets of shrubs such as Maytenus and other Celastraceae, sideroxylons and other Sapotaceae, and Rhus and other Anacardiaceae on the coastal sands ; the classic fynbos of the sandplains of the West Coast Forelands, and the Agulhas Plain ; the grassy fynbos of the hillier and wetter areas of the South and South-Eastern Coast Forelands ; areas where fynbos and renosterveld are mixed ; coastal renosterveld on the West and South Coast Forelands ; and the inland renosterveld of the drier inland Little Karoo and Warm Bokkeveld.

However, varieties of fynbos dominate on the more exposed parts of the mountain ( such as above the city ) where conditions are too dry and harsh for forests.

The mountain's natural wildfire cycle seasonally burns and thus rejuvenates the fynbos vegetation on these exposed slopes.

Whole groups of plants, such as certain fynbos Moraeas and Ericas produce flowers on sticky peduncles or with sticky corolla tubes that only permit access to flying pollinators, whether bird, bat or insect.

* Western Cape School Network on fynbos

* Fauna & Flora International's work on fynbos

Some game reserves boast more than one ecosystem, sometimes even five, ranging from valley bushveld, savannah grassland and fynbos to riverine forest and acacia woodland ; this provides a dramatic improvement on the types of wildlife that are present and the numerous species of birds that thrive on in these environments.

The trail starts with a trip on a raft across the lagoon and runs through fynbos and subtropical vegetation.

The Western Cape coast is travelled by the Garden Route, while large areas of natural fynbos can be seen in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town.

In Africa, the montane grasslands of eastern South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho, and the Succulent Karoo and fynbos of the Northern and Western Cape have the most species.

Similar plant communities are found in the four other Mediterranean climate regions around the world, including the Mediterranean Basin ( where it is known as maquis ), central Chile ( where it is called matorral ), South African Cape Region ( known there as fynbos ), and in Western and Southern Australia.

The main type of fynbos (" fine bush ") vegetation at the Cape of Good Hope is Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, an endangered vegetation type that is endemic to the Cape Peninsula.

In the latter half of the 20th century " fynbos " gained currency as the term for the distinctive vegetation of the southwestern Cape.

A good example would be forest in England ; Cape Flats fynbos in Cape Town, South Africa ; or prairie in the middle USA.

Due to climate change with fluctuating aridity, the basal lineages inhabiting humid fynbos in the SW became isolated from each other and from the animals living approximately in the border region between Northern and Eastern Cape and Free State, and Lesotho.

At least 660 of the species are endemic to South Africa, and these are often called the Cape heaths, forming the largest genus in the fynbos.

The hinterland is known for its vast mountainous landscapes covered with unspoilt vegetation of the Cape Floral Kingdom (' fynbos ').

The mountain is covered mainly by fynbos, a botanical biome native to the Western Cape.

It is widely distributed in the southwestern and southern parts of South Africa of the fynbos region.

These enhance solubilisation of nutrients, thus allowing nutrient uptake in the low-nutrient, phosphorus-deficient soils of its native fynbos habitat.

" Bush birds " tend to be rather scarce because of the coarse, scrubby nature of fynbos vegetation.

For most of the year, there are more small birds in coastal thicket than in fynbos.

Many popular horticultural plants like pelargoniums, freesias, daisies, lilies and irises also have their origins in fynbos.

Many bee flies, and some Tabanidae and Nemestrinidae are particularly adapted to pollinating fynbos and Karoo plants with narrow, deep corolla tubes, such as Lapeirousia species.

Common habitats include bogs, fens, swamps, marshes, the tepuis of Venezuela, the wallums of coastal Australia, the fynbos of South Africa, and moist streambanks.

Rooibos ( ;, " red bush "; scientific name Aspalathus linearis ) is a broom-like member of the legume family of plants growing in South Africa's fynbos.

In fields related to biogeography, fynbos is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity.

Typical fynbos foliage is ericoid rather than fine.

The fynbos in the western regions is richer and more varied than in the eastern regions of South Africa.

Of the Ericas, 600 occur in the fynbos kingdom, while only 26 are found in the rest of the world.

The name fynbos is Afrikaans for fine bush as opposed to timber forest, and refers to the fine, ericoid leaves and gracile habit of many fynbos species.

Characteristic fynbos plant families include proteas, ericas, and restios.