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Devil's Peak (Cape Town)
Devil's Peak is part of the mountainous backdrop to Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. When looking at Table Mountain from the city centre, or when looking towards the city across Table Bay, the skyline from left to right consists of Devil's Peak, the flat summit of Table Mountain, the peak of Lion's Head (Cape Town), Lion's Head, and Signal Hill (Cape Town), Signal Hill. The central districts of Cape Town are located within this natural amphitheatre. The city grew out of a settlement founded on the shore below the mountains in 1652 by Jan van Riebeeck, for the Dutch East India Company. Some of the first farms in the Cape were established on the slopes of Devil's Peak, along the Liesbeek River. Devil's Peak stands high, less than Table Mountain's , and there are a number of hiking routes to the summit. Landmarks The Rhodes Memorial to Cecil Rhodes, and the University of Cape Town are situated on the eastern slopes of Devil's Peak. Other landmarks on the eastern slopes ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lion's Head (Cape Town)
Lion's Head is a mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, between Table Mountain and Signal Hill. Lion's Head peaks at above sea level. The peak forms part of a dramatic backdrop to the city of Cape Town and is part of the Table Mountain National Park. Surrounding The suburbs of the city surround the peak and Signal Hill on almost all sides, but strict management by city authorities has kept development of housing off the higher ground. The area is significant to the Cape Malay community, who historically lived in the Bo-Kaap quarter close to Lion's Head. There are a number of historic graves and shrines ('' kramat''s) of Malay leaders on the lower slopes and on Signal Hill. History In the 17th century the peak was known as ''Leeuwen Kop'' (Lion's Head) by the Dutch, and Signal Hill was known as ''Leeuwen Staart'' (Lion's Tail), as the shape resembles a crouching lion or a sphinx. The English in the 17th century called the peak Sugar Loaf. In 1897 gold was discovered on Lion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mostert's Mill
Mostert's Mill (Afrikaans: ''Mostert se Meul'') is a historic windmill in Mowbray, Cape Town, South Africa. It was built in 1796 and is the oldest surviving complete windmill in South Africa. It was almost completely destroyed by a wildfire on 18 April 2021 but was fully restored by April 2024 and is once more operational and used to grind wheat into whole meal, using the power of the wind. The oldest windmill in South Africa is the De Nieuwe Molen mill in Cape Town, built in 1782. History The mill was built around 1796 as a private mill on the farm 'Welgelegen', owned by Gysbert van Renen and was named after his son-in-law, Sybrand Mostert, after Van Renen's death. It was the first privately owned mill in Cape Town, Cape Colony. Prior to the British occupation of the Cape in the Battle of Muizenberg in 1795, only mills controlled by the Dutch East India Company were allowed. Mostert's Mill had ceased working by 1873 but was owned by the Mostert family until 1889, when it was s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newlands Forest
Newlands Forest is a conservancy area on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, beside the suburb of Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa. It is owned and maintained by the Table Mountain National Parks Board, along with the City Parks Department of Cape Town, and includes a Fire Station, Nursery and Reservoir. The forest itself is a popular walking and jogging destination (See trail map below), close and easily accessible from the city's southern suburbs. Due to its location on the mountain slopes, there are impressive views eastward over the Cape Flats. Fauna and Flora Newlands Forest lies at a natural transition zone between endangered Granite Fynbos and Peninsula Shale Fynbos, in an area that also originally supported large indigenous forests. In the late 1800s, much of the indigenous forests were felled, and the fynbos cleared, to make way for commercial pine plantations, which still remain and account for the remainder of the land. Peninsula Granite Fynbos This is an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maritime Pine
''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings. Description ''Pinus pinaster'' is a medium-size tree, reaching tall with a trunk diameter of up to , exceptionally . The bark is orange-red, thick, and deeply fissured at the base of the trunk, somewhat thinner in the upper crown. The leaves ('needles') are in pairs, very stout ( broad), up to long, and bluish-green to distinctly yellowish-green. The maritime pine features the longest and most robust needles of all European pine species. The cones are conic, long and broad at the base when closed, green at first, ripening glossy red-brown when 24 months old. They open slowly over the next few years, or after being heated by a forest fire, to release the seeds, opening to broad. The seeds are long, with a wing, and are wind- dispersed. Similar species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leucadendron Argenteum
''Leucadendron argenteum'' (silver tree, silver leaf tree, , or ) 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 pink, 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 heavy woody cone, cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afromontane
The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of Africa are discontinuous, separated from each other by lower-lying areas, and are sometimes referred to as the Afromontane archipelago, as their distribution is analogous to a series of sky islands. Geography Afromontane communities occur above elevation near the equator, and as low as elevation in the Knysna-Amatole montane forests of South Africa. Afromontane forests are generally cooler and more humid than the surrounding lowlands. The Afromontane archipelago mostly follows the East African Rift from the Red Sea to Zimbabwe, with the largest areas in the Ethiopian Highlands, the Albertine Rift Mountains of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania, and the Eastern Arc highlands of Kenya and Tanzani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peninsula Shale Fynbos - DevilsPeak Cape Town
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . The word entered English in the 16th century. Definitions A peninsula is generally defined as a piece of land surrounded on most sides by water. A peninsula may be bordered by more than one body of water, and the body of water does not have to be an ocean or a sea. A piece of land on a very tight river bend or one between two rivers is sometimes said to form a peninsula, for example in the New Barbadoes Neck in New Jersey, United States. A peninsula may be connected to the mainland via an isthmus, for example, in the Isthmus of Corinth which connects to the Peloponnese peninsula. Formation and types Peninsulas can be formed from continental drift, glacial erosion, glacial meltwater, glacial deposition, marine sediment, marine transg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Bowl
The City Bowl is a part of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a natural amphitheatre-shaped area bordered by Table Bay and defined by the mountains of Signal Hill, Lion's Head, Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. The area includes the Cape Town central business district (CBD), the harbour, the Company's Garden, and the residential suburbs of De Waterkant, Devil's Peak Estate, District Six, Zonnebloem, Gardens, Higgovale, Oranjezicht, Schotsche Kloof, Tamboerskloof, University Estate, Vredehoek, Walmer Estate and Woodstock. Central Business District Cape Town CBD, located within the City Bowl, is the predominant commercial district in Cape Town’s metropolitan area, and the financial center of the Western Cape. The South African Parliament is located in Plein Street, and is the seat of government for six months in the year. The Western Cape provincial government and City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality also have their head offices in the Cape Town CBD. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peninsula Shale Renosterveld
Peninsula Shale Renosterveld (PSR) is a unique vegetation type that is found only on the slopes of Signal Hill and Devil's Peak in Cape Town, South Africa. It is critically endangered and exists nowhere else. Habitat This unique type of Renosterveld is indigenous and endemic to the Cape Town City Bowl but, due to the growth of this city, it now survives only on the slopes of Signal Hill and Devil's Peak. It is subject to very frequent fires, and is therefore dominated by a wide variety of grass and bulb species. There are a large variety of tall shrubs such as the Wax Karee, but the Renosterbos bush (the signature plant of Renosterveld) is relatively less common. At its southern boundary, this vegetation type gradually merges into Fynbos. The critically endangered blue-eyed uintjie ('' Moraea aristata'') flower is totally endemic to this vegetation type and occurs nowhere else. Soils and climate The soils in this area are composed predominantly of hard, fertile clay that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Critically Endangered
An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of the 157,190 species currently on the IUCN Red List, 9,760 of those are listed as critically endangered, with 1,302 being possibly extinct and 67 possibly extinct in the wild. The IUCN Red List provides the public with information regarding the conservation status of animal, fungi, and plant species. It divides various species into seven different categories of conservation that are based on habitat range, population size, habitat, threats, etc. Each category represents a different level of global extinction risk. Species that are considered to be critically endangered are placed within the "Threatened" category. As the IUCN Red List does not consider a species extinct until extensive targeted surveys have been conducted, species that a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Winelands Shale Fynbos
Cape Winelands Shale Fynbos is a vegetation type that naturally occurs in the Cape Winelands (or " Boland") of the Western Cape, South Africa. This vegetation type is found on lower mountain slopes and high, rolling plains in the Western Cape Boland of South Africa. The loamy soils are naturally poor, moist and slightly acidic but the biodiversity is rich. The vegetation consists of a diverse array of Protea, Erica, geophyte and daisy species, as well as some endemic species. In the moister areas, the Ericas predominate over the other plant groups. This vegetation type is more vulnerable than other types of mountain fynbos, as it typically grows on lower slopes, which tend to be developed for housing or cultivated for farming. Peninsula Shale Fynbos An isolated patch of this vegetation can also be found further to the west, within the city of Cape Town. Here it is usually known as Peninsula Shale Fynbos and occurs on the lower slopes of Devils Peak as far south as Newlands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5 Indigenous Afrotemperate Forest On Devils Peak - Cape Town
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat prime, a Mersenne prime exponent, as well as a Fibonacci number. 5 is the first congruent number, as well as the length of the hypotenuse of the smallest integer-sided right triangle, making part of the smallest Pythagorean triple ( 3, 4, 5). 5 is the first safe prime and the first good prime. 11 forms the first pair of sexy primes with 5. 5 is the second Fermat prime, of a total of five known Fermat primes. 5 is also the first of three known Wilson primes (5, 13, 563). Geometry A shape with five sides is called a pentagon. The pentagon is the first regular polygon that does not tile the plane with copies of itself. It is the largest face any of the five regular three-dimensional regular Platonic solid can have. A conic is determined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
