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Table Mountain National Park

Flora

The Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) is rich in floral biodiversity and is part of the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site. The most common vegetation type in the TMNP is fynbos (meaning fine bush).

Fynbos consists of four major plant groups –

  • Proteas – large shrubs with broad leaves
  • Erica’s – heath-like, low growing shrubs
  • Restios – read-like plants – are the only group that are found in all fynbos habitats and as such are called
  • Geophytes – bulbs – these include watsonias and disa’s both of which occur mainly in wetland areas and are prominent after fires.

Fynbos is an ancient vegetation type and has developed over millions of years with restios dating as far back as 60 million years. It has a high level of endemism (when a specific plant occurs nowhere else on earth) often with a species being endemic to an area of a few kilometers. It is this high level of endemism combined with the high rate of development and environmental degradation that has resulted in the Cape Floristic Region being declared a biodiversity hot spot.

Fynbos is a fire dependent vegetation that needs to burn around every 15 years to stimulate new growth and ensure that plant and animal communities remain healthy. However, because of the proximity of houses to the TMNP, often fires that would be beneficial to the vegetation are extinguished because of the threat to human settlement. If fynbos does not burn in about 20 - 30 years it will be come moribund and vigorous plant species will out-compete others which could result in the extinction of some species.

On the other hand certain areas of the Park experience fire too frequently due to human intervention which can be destructive to the ecosystem because when young fynbos that is not yet seed-bearing burns, seed banks are depleted which can change the diversity of plant species in the area.

Visit our section on Fire Management to find out how the TMNP Firefighting Unit operates.

Renosterveld

Renosterveld (rhinoceros field) found on the slopes of Signal Hill and in patches on Devil’s Peak, is rich in geophytes and is also characterised by small shrubs such as erica's and grasses. The renosterveld has been hard hit by too-frequent fires - a result of human activity.

Afromontane Forest

While we have no real indication of the expanse of Afromontane Forest on the peninsula in pre-colonial times, today only small pockets remain in the TMNP as within 50 years of European settlement large swathes of Afromontane had been harvested.

Afromontane Forest usually occurs below 800m and requires good rainfall and nutrient rich soil and today is found primarily in kloofs on the slopes of Table Mountain but it does occur as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. It consists of medium-height (15m-20m), evergreen trees and unlike its neighbour fynbos, it is not very rich in diversity and consists of around 33 species of tree.

Due to the dense nature of the forest canopy only a few other plants, such as ferns, are found in the forest but there is a profusion of algae’s and mosses. The majority of animals in the forests are of the reptilian, invertebrate (insect) or avian persuasion although you can see rooikat and smaller antelope such as steenbok.

For good forest walks visit the activities section.

Wetlands

The few remaining wetlands on the Cape Peninsula are of huge ecological significance. The Noordhoek/ Kommetjie wetlands and the central area of Table Mountain are excellent representatives of wetland ecology. Their slightly acidic nature of the wetlands limits the number of plants that grow here although numbered among those that do are some of the Parks rarest floral jewels such as the Bokmakieriestert (Witsenia maura), Erica heleogena and three endemic leucodendrons all of which are numbered on the IUCN’s Red Data List.

Recommended Read:

For an enlightening read that will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the TMNP buy Mountains in the Sea – an Interpretive Guide to Table Mountain National Park by award winning environmental journalist John Yeld. The book comprehensively covers all aspects of the Park from fauna, flora and fire to popular hikes and history. It is available from TMNP outlets at Westlake, Tel: 021 701 8692, Boulders Penguin Colony, Tel: 021 786 2392 and Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre, Tel: 021 780 9204.

For more information on the flora of the TMNP visit: www.botsoc.co.za or www.sanbi.org.za.



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