The Kamiesberg or Kamiesberge (

Khoikhoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

''"Th'amies"'' = ''"jumble"''), is a mountain range of jumbled granite

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

s or

bornhardt A bornhardt () is a dome-shaped, steep-sided, bald rock outcropping at least in height and several hundred metres in width. They are named after Wilhelm Bornhardt (1864–1946), a German geologist and explorer of German East Africa, who first d ...

s dotted over sandy plains and centered on Kamieskroon in

Namaqualand Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. This range is very like the

Matopos The Matobo National Park forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills, an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some south of Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. The hills were formed over 2 billion years ago with granite being forced ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

in appearance. It stretches for about 140 km (60 mi) from

Garies Garies is a small agricultural centre situated in South Africa's Northern Cape province about 110 km south of Springbok, the chief town of the Namaqualand district. Current population approximately 1500. The Letterklip provincial heritag ...

in the south to

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

in the north and forms a plateau between the

Sandveld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswa ...

of the Cape West Coast and

Bushmanland Bushmanland (Boesmanland in Afrikaans) may refer to: * Bushmanland (South West Africa), a bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia) * Bushmanland, Northern Cape Bushmanland is an arid area south of the Orange River and west of Kenhar ...

in the east, with the Hardveld of the mountainous central Kamiesberg escarpment in the midst.

History

The region was formerly occupied by

who were

nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

pastoralists Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal s ...

. The buildings of Kamieskroon were moved from a previous location known as Bowesdorp, named after the village doctor. Steep granite hills and a shortage of water hindered development, so that it was relocated. The foundations of the original village may still be seen in a rocky ravine some 8 km north of Kamieskroon. The Leliefontein mission station, known for the Leliefontein massacre in 1902, is located at an elevation of 1 500 m (5 000 ft) on a plateau near the top of the mountains, which attains a height of over 1 700 m (5 600 ft).

Ecology

The range has a mild climate made moderate by the cold Benguela Current. It is an outlier of the Cape Floristic Region. Its vegetation is largely Succulent Karoo with a large number of

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

. Quiver trees and Camelthorn trees are common with large numbers of ''

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

'' shrubs . Also occurring are ''

Ceraria ''Portulacaria'' is a genus of succulent plant, classified in its own subfamily Portulacarioideae in the family Didiereaceae. It is indigenous to southern Africa. Taxonomy The genus was previously placed in the family Portulacaceae, but accordi ...

namaquensis'', ''

Euclea ''Euclea'', from the Greek '' eukleia'' meaning "glory and fame", denotes a group of flowering plants in the Ebenaceae or ebony family. They were described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1774. The genus includes evergreen trees and shrubs, native t ...

tomentosa'', '' Rhus undulata'', '' Ozoroa dispar'' and '' Tylecodon paniculatus''. The Kamiesberg is unusual among desert areas in that rainfall is relatively predictable, with frost being rare. Rain is usually accompanied by heavy dewfall and fog. Bergwinds during winter can result in temperatures of 40 °C. After a winter of adequate rainfall, springtime brings widespread and spectacular flowering of

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

and

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The leav ...

species that were dormant,

Aizoaceae The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and Ne ...

and numerous

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

, Poaceae,

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair a ...

and Amaryllidaceae. The region is considered one of 25 global plant

biodiversity hotspots A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the co ...

and portions were declared protected in 1999 in order to preserve the abundant wildlife and colourful wild flowers. The Goegab Nature Reserve near Springbok is a good place to appreciate the floral wonders of the mountains.Flora and Vegetation of Southern Africa:Namaqualand
/ref>

References

Bibliography

*Anderson, P. and Hoffman, M.T. 2005. ''The effects of sustained heavy grazing on plant diversity and composition: A study of the Kamiesberg'', in Allsopp, N and Hoffman, M.T. (2005), Towards Sustainable Land Use in Namaqualand: Proceedings of the Namaqualand Colloquium, 24–26 May. Published by ARC- Range and Forage Institute, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town

External links

Kamieskroon Mountain RouteA description of the endemic Flora and Vegetation of the Kamiesberg Uplands
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Mountain ranges of the Northern Cape

History

Ecology

See also

References

Bibliography

External links