What does fynbos stand for?

What does fynbos stand for?

fine-leaved plants
Fynbos (/ˈfeɪnbɒs/; Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈfɛinbos] meaning fine-leaved plants) 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.

Why is fynbos so special?

Fynbos also plays a vital role in the water cycle: some of the wettest places in Africa being wild, moisture-rich mountain tops populated by rare proteas and because their water needs are low, fynbos allows up to 80% of the rainwater to run off and fill our rivers and reservoirs, which means that one in five glasses of …

Is fynbos only in South Africa?

Fynbos Biome. Fynbos covers only about 6.7% of South Africa (about 85 000 km2) but has the largest number of plant species of any biome in the country (about 7500). Most Fynbos is found along the coast and in the Cape Fold Mountains between Nieuwoudtville in the north-west and Port Elizabeth in the east.

Why fynbos biome is unique in the whole world?

The Fynbos Biome is home to one of the world’s richest floras, with more than 9,000 species of plants occurring within an area the size of Malawi or Portugal. Two thirds of these species are endemic to the region, thus meaning that they occur nowhere else on earth.

Is fynbos a biome?

Is rooibos a fynbos?

Rooibos, produced from the endemic South African fynbos plant, Aspalathus linearis, has become popular on the global markets as a caffeine-free herbal tea and antioxidant food ingredient. It is mostly sold in fermented form, but a demand exists for unfermented (green) rooibos due to its higher antioxidant activity.

Is Renosterveld a biome?

Renosterveld is a term used for one of the major plant communities and vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral Kingdom) which is located in southwestern and southeastern South Africa, in southernmost Africa. It is an ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.

What are the characteristics of fynbos biome?

This area is characterised by hot, dry summers, high-speed winds, intense recurring fires and soils which are low in nutrients. The Fynbos biome includes four veld types: Mountain Fynbos is found on sea level hills and mountain slopes, in winter rainfall areas.

How do you identify fynbos?

The presence of a flower is a huge step towards identifying a fynbos plant and is easier than you think. Plants are put into their respective families – Protea, Erica, Daisy – based on their flower structure. Forget what the plant itself looks like – it’s the flower that determines what they are.

Is Honeybush a fynbos?

Honeybush is part of South Africa’s unique fynbos biome. The bushes grow wild in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces in an area ranging from Piketberg to Port Elizabeth. Each honeybush species has a different flavour profile.

Why is it called Renosterveld?

The name renosterveld is derived from the Afrikaans word ‘renoster’, meaning rhinoceros, which is thought to refer to the Black Rhino which historically occurred in the Western Cape prior to its extermination as a result of hunting by early colonists during the 18th-19th Century.

How did the fynbos plant get its name?

The word fynbos comes from the Dutch for fine-leaved plants. Many fynbos plants depend on fire for their survival, some needing the heat for their seeds to germinate.

What does the Afrikaans word fynbos mean in Afrikaans?

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. The word fynbos is often confusingly said to mean “fine bush” in Afrikaans, as “bos” means “bush”. Typical fynbos foliage is ericoid rather than fine.

What makes Fynbos a special place in the world?

Erica regia. Fynbos is also characterised by the presence of an enormous diversity of species from several key families: Restionaceae, Proteaceae, Ericaceae, Rutaceae and Iridaceae. The species diversity of fynbos is one of the main things that makes it so special. Table Mountain alone has more species of plants than the whole of the British Isles.

How many species of fynbos are there in South Africa?

The fynbos constitutes about 80% of the Cape floral kingdom; of the more than 8,500 fynbos species, nearly 6,000 of them are endemic. 1,700 fynbos plant species are threatened with extinction.