Bartholina burmanniana SpiderOrchid Cape Renosterveld

Swartland Shale Renosterveld (West Coast Renosterveld) is a critically endangered vegetation type of the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

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 countri ...

Distribution

This unique type of

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 ...

vegetation occurs over the

Swartland The Swartland is a region of Western Cape Province that begins some north of Cape Town and consists of the area between the towns of Malmesbury in the south, Darling in the west, Piketberg in the north, Moorreesburg in the middle and the Riebee ...

and Boland areas, on the West Coast lowlands to the north of Cape Town. It extends from north of

Piketberg Piketberg (also sometimes spelt Piquetberg in the past) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, located about 80 km east of Saldanha Bay. The original spelling of the name was "Piquetberg". The town is in the foothills of the Piketberg mounta ...

, southwards as far as

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 Hottent ...

. Around 10 percent of this area lies within the Cape Town metropol (where historically it was the most widespread form of Renosterveld, especially concentrated on the

Tygerberg Tygerberg is a district in the northern suburbs of Cape Town in South Africa. It is also the name of the range of hills in the area. The main Tygerberg farms were Pampoenkraal (became Durbanville), Stellenburgh (became part of Bellville), Eve ...

Hills in the northern suburbs) and, overall, over 90 percent of this vegetation has been destroyed for farming and other development. The remaining patches are threatened by invasive alien plants and further development, making this vegetation type critically endangered.

Description

Undisturbed, it forms tall, open shrubland over undulating valleys and plains. It usually grows in clay soils that are derived from the Malmesbury Group Shales. Termite mounds create large, round hummocks called “heuweltjies”, that are a prominent feature of this vegetation type, appearing as pale spots on the landscape. Indigenous trees and older thicket often occur around these features. The

Renosterbos ''Elytropappus rhinocerotis'' (commonly known as renosterbos or "rhinoceros bush") is a species of flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae, endemic to South Africa. It is a very obvious component of the unique Renosterveld Vegetation Typ ...

is relatively common in this vegetation, but this may be due to recent

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...

– the renosterbos is rather inedible and consequently livestock tend to avoid it.

Threats and conservation

Swartland Shale Renosterveld at Tygerberg Reserve Cape Town

The vast majority of Swartland Shale Renosterveld has been lost (the target of saving 26% is now unattainable, as 90% is already completely transformed for farming). Remnants survive in tiny isolated patches within farmland, usually only on rougher, steeper ground that cannot be cultivated. Only a few pockets are actually protected, and most surviving areas are threatened by invasive alien plants such as Acacia saligna (“Port Jackson”),

Acacia mearnsii ''Acacia mearnsii'', commonly known as black wattle, late black wattle or green wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is usually an erect tree with smooth bark, bipinnate lea ...

and a variety of other invasive trees, grasses and herbs.

List of some endemic plants

There are a great many plant species within this ecosystem which are totally

endemic 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 ...

- existing in this vegetation type and nowhere else in the world. A partial list is included below. * Leucadendron verticillatum *

Aspalathus acanthophylla ''Aspalathus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The yellow flowers and spiny habit of some species have suggested a resemblance to ''Ulex europaeus'', the thorny " English gorse" Accordingly, "Cape Gorse" has been proposed ...

* Aspalathus horizontalis *

Aspalathus pinguis ''Aspalathus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The yellow flowers and spiny habit of some species have suggested a resemblance to ''Ulex europaeus'', the thorny " English gorse" Accordingly, "Cape Gorse" has been proposed ...

subsp. longissima *

subsp. occidentalis * Aspalathus puberula * Aspalathus rectistyla * Cliffortia acockii * Lotononis complanata * Serruria incrassata * Erepsia ramosa * Ruschia patens * Ruschia pauciflora *

Indigofera triquetra ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description Species of ''Indigofera'' are mos ...

Aristea lugens ''Aristea'' is a genus of evergreen, perennial and rhizomatous species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, first described in 1789. The genus is distributed in tropical and southern Africa, as well as Madagascar. The genus name is deriv ...

* Babiana angustifolia * Babiana latifolia * Babiana odorata * Babiana secunda * Hesperantha pallescens * Hesperantha spicata subsp. fistulosa * Lachenalia liliflora * Lachenalia mediana rogersii * Lachenalia orthopetala * Lapeirousia fastigiata *

Moraea gigandra ''Moraea gigandra'' is a species of plant in the family Iridaceae Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a to ...

* Moraea tulbaghensis * Oxalis fragilis * Oxalis involuta * Oxalis leptocalyx * Oxalis levis * Oxalis macra * Oxalis perineson * Oxalis strigosa * Pelargonium viciifolium

Gallery

File:Hyobanche sanguinea Katnael flower Cape Town Renosterveld.jpg, ''

Hyobanche sanguinea ''Hyobanche'' are a genus of flowering plants in the broomrape family Orobanchaceae, native to southern Africa. They are root parasites that cannot perform photosynthesis, and are only observed above ground when flowering. Species Currently acc ...

'', an indigenous Renosterveld flower File:P9210030 Tienie Versfeld Wildflower Reserve.JPG, Swartland Shale Renosterveld in flower, at Tienie Versveld Reserve near the town of Darling.

References