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
The Helderberg Escarpment, also known as the Helderberg Mountains, is an escarpment in eastern New York, United States, roughly west of the city of Albany. The escarpment is the northeastern extremity of the Allegheny Plateau. It rises steepl ...
. 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
Southern Afrotemperate Forest (the Southern Cape Forests) is a kind of tall, shady, multilayered indigenous South African forest.
This is the main forest-type in the south-western part of South Africa, naturally extending from the Cape Peninsula ...
”. Altogether about 600 species of plant have been recorded here, including a wide range of
proteas. Particularly prominent plants include the
pincushion proteas (''
Leucospermum'' sp.),
cone bush
Cone bush, conebush, or cone-bush is a common name for various plants, usually dicotyledonous shrubs that bear their flowers and seeds in compact, cone-shaped inflorescences and infructescences. The plants that the name most frequently applies to ...
es (''
Leucadendron'' sp.),
sugar bushes (''
Protea'' sp.),
heaths
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...
(''
Erica'' sp.) and the
waboom tree
''Protea nitida'', commonly called wagon tree, ''waboom'' or ''blousuikerbos'', is a large, slow-growing ''Protea'' endemic to South Africa. It is one of the few ''Protea'' species that grows into trees, and the only one that has usable timber.
...
(''
Protea nitida
''Protea nitida'', commonly called wagon tree, ''waboom'' or ''blousuikerbos'', is a large, slow-growing ''Protea'' endemism, endemic to South Africa. It is one of the few ''Protea'' species that grows into trees, and the only one that has usable ...
'').
Animals that can be found here include the Cape
leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
,
caracal,
grey duiker
The common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia''), also known as the grey or bush duiker, is a small antelope and the only member of the genus ''Sylvicapra''. This species is found everywhere in Africa south of the Sahara, excluding the Horn of Afric ...
,
Cape grysbok
The Cape or southern grysbok (''Raphicerus melanotis'') is a small antelope that is endemic to the Western Cape region of South Africa between Albany and the Cederberg mountains.
Description
left, Illustrated in ''The Book of Antelopes'' (18 ...
,
steenbok
The steenbok (''Raphicerus campestris'') is a common small antelope of southern and eastern Africa. It is sometimes known as the steinbuck or steinbok.
Description
Steenbok resemble small oribi, standing 45–60 cm (16"–24") at the ...
,
mongoose,
angulate and
padloper tortoises and over 170 species of
bird.
The reserve has a picnic area, gift shop, Environmental Education Centre and museum displays.
Southern Afrotemperate Forest
Southern Afrotemperate Forest (the Southern Cape Forests) is a kind of tall, shady, multilayered indigenous South African forest.
This is the main forest-type in the south-western part of South Africa, naturally extending from the Cape Peninsula ...
File:Helderberg Nature Reserve - Fynbos 2.JPG, Flowering Watsonia geophyte
File:Phylica pubescens MS 9313.jpg, ''Phylica pubescens''
File:Leucospermum cordifolium MS 9316.jpg, ''Leucospermum cordifolium''
File:Chersina angulata MS 9329.jpg, Angulate tortoise
See also
*
Biodiversity of Cape Town
*
List of nature reserves in Cape Town
*
Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos
*
Boland Granite Fynbos
*
Index: Fynbos - ''habitats and species''.
*
Southern Afrotemperate Forest
Southern Afrotemperate Forest (the Southern Cape Forests) is a kind of tall, shady, multilayered indigenous South African forest.
This is the main forest-type in the south-western part of South Africa, naturally extending from the Cape Peninsula ...
External links
The Helderberg Nature ReserveHelderberg Nature Reserve
References
{{Cape Town, natural
Nature reserves in Cape Town
Fynbos
Renosterveld
Protected areas of the Western Cape