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Silwerboomkloof Natural Heritage Site
Silwerboomkloof Natural Heritage Site is a small, protected valley (“kloof”), near the Helderberg Nature Reserve, in Somerset West, South Africa. The name Silwerboomkloof means “Valley of the Silvertrees”. The rare Silvertree (''Leucadendron argenteum ''Leucadendron argenteum'' (silver tree, silver leaf tree, af, Witteboom, or af, Silwerboom) is an endangered plant species in the family Proteaceae, which is endemic to a small area of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Most grow in and around ...'') is a striking, silver-coloured tree of the Protea family, and this reserve conserves a forest of them. The iconic Silvertree is actually indigenous to the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, making the population at Silwerboomkloof a bit of an isolated anomaly. This reserve encloses a section of “ Granite Fynbos” and “ Renosterveld” and a total of around 220 species of plant have been recorded. File:Copy of Leucadendron argenteum - Silvertree- foliage 4.JPG, Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helderberg Nature Reserve
Helderberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Somerset West, South Africa. This nature reserve is located on the southern slopes of the Helderberg mountains. Its 398 ha consist mostly of “Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos” (a highly species-rich vegetation type) with smaller patches of “Boland Granite Fynbos” and “Southern Afrotemperate Forest”. Altogether about 600 species of plant have been recorded here, including a wide range of Proteaceae, proteas. Particularly prominent plants include the Leucospermum, pincushion proteas (''Leucospermum'' sp.), cone bushes (''Leucadendron'' sp.), Protea, sugar bushes (''Protea'' sp.), Ericaceae, heaths (''Ericaceae, Erica'' sp.) and the waboom tree (''Protea nitida''). Animals that can be found here include the Cape leopard, caracal, grey duiker, Cape grysbok, steenbok, mongoose, Chersina angulata, angulate and Homopus, padloper tortoises and over 170 species of bird. The reserve has a picnic area, gift shop, Environmental Educatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset West
Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottentots Holland). The vehicle registration code for Somerset West is ''CFM'' and the post code is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes. History A cattle post was established here by Dutch soldiers in 1672. A town developed around the Lourens River (originally "Tweederivier", which means "Second River"; "Eersterivier", meaning "First River" passes through Stellenbosch, some to the north) and the farm of Vergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th-century farmhouse built in the historic Cape Dutch style by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, governor of the Cape and son of Simon van der Stel, who gave his name to the nearby town of Stellenbosch. Willem Adriaan was later sent back to Holland after being charged with corru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leucadendron Argenteum
''Leucadendron argenteum'' (silver tree, silver leaf tree, af, Witteboom, or af, Silwerboom) is an endangered plant species in the family Proteaceae, which is endemic to a small area of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Most grow in and around the city of Cape Town, but outlying (perhaps introduced) populations exist near Somerset West ( Silwerboomkloof), Paarl and Stellenbosch. It is a protected tree in South Africa. Appearance The silvertree is a striking evergreen tree, growing 5–7 m tall (sometimes up to 16 m). It is erect and well-proportioned with a thick, straight trunk and grey bark. The soft, silky leaves are shiny silver, lanceolate, 8–15 cm long and 2 cm broad, with their distinct silvery sheen produced by dense velvety hairs. The wind-pollinated flowers are produced in dense globose inflorescences 4–5 cm diameter, and give off a pleasant scent. Like all Leucadendrons, this tree is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. The fruit is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Proteales. Well-known genera include ''Protea'', ''Banksia'', ''Embothrium'', ''Grevillea'', ''Hakea'' and ''Macadamia''. Species such as the New South Wales waratah (''Telopea speciosissima''), king protea (''Protea cynaroides''), and various species of ''Banksia'', ''soman'', and ''Leucadendron'' are popular cut flowers. The nuts of ''Macadamia integrifolia'' are widely grown commercially and consumed, as are those of Gevuina avellana on a smaller scale. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentrations of diversity. Etymology The name Proteaceae was adapted by Robert Brown from the name Proteae coined in 1789 for the family by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, based on the genus ''Protea'', which in 1767 Carl Linnaeus derived from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Table Mountain
Table Mountain ( naq, Huriǂoaxa, lit= sea-emerging; af, Tafelberg) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. Table Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in South Africa, attracting 4.2 million people every year for various activities. The mountain has 8,200 plant species, of which around 80% are fynbos, meaning fine bush. It forms part of the Table Mountain National Park, and part of the lands formerly ranged by Khoe-speaking clans, such as the (the "High Clan"). It is home to a large array of mostly endemic fauna and flora. Features The main feature of Table Mountain is the level plateau approximately from side to side, edged by steep cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devil's Peak to the east and by Lion's Head to the west, forms a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town. This broad sweep of mount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boland Granite Fynbos
Boland Granite Fynbos is a vulnerable fynbos vegetation type that occurs in the Western Cape, South Africa. Located in the Boland region of the Western Cape, to the north-east of the city of Cape Town, this fynbos has 23 known endemic species that occur nowhere else. It is threatened due to extensive farming and what is left is in danger from a range of invasive alien trees (predominantly pines, wattles and hakeas). A tiny portion of this ecosystem extends into the eastern suburbs of Cape Town, in the mountains around Somerset West and Strand. http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_3_PenGranFyn_2010-03.pdf See also * Biodiversity of Cape Town * Peninsula Granite Fynbos Peninsula Granite Fynbos is an endangered Fynbos vegetation type which is endemic to the city of Cape Town and occurs nowhere else. It is a unique type of tall, dense and diverse scrubland, scattered with trees. It can be found all along the belt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renosterveld
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. Etymology Renosterveld directly translated in the Afrikaans language means "rhinoceros-field", a possible reference to the high number of rhinoceroses seen by the Afrikaner settlers at the time. It may also derive its name from the renosterbos ("rhinoceros bush - ''Elytropappus rhinocerotis''), which is a common species of shrub found here. The dull grey colour of renosterbos is similar to the colour of a rhino's hide. Geology Renosterveld plants grow on rich soil, which makes them more nutritious than typical fynbos plants. Typically, renosterveld is largely confined to fine-grained soils - mainly clays and silts - which are derived from the shales of the Malmesbury and Bokkeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserves In Cape Town
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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