Fynbos
Fynbos is the name given to the natural shrubland vegetation of this area and was probably first used when the Dutch colonised the Cape in the mid 17th century.
Their priority was to find timber suitable for  building, which the fynbos did not offer. They described the vegetation as 'fijnbosch' or 'fine bush', in other words timber that was too slender or fine for harvesting. Fijnbosch has since been anglicised to Fynbos.
Unique to South Africa, Fynbos grows in a 100-200km wide coastal belt stretching from Clanwilliam on the West coast to Port Elizabeth on the Southeast coast. It forms part of the Cape Floral Kingdom, where it accounts for half of the surface area and 80% of the plant varieties.
The Fynbos in the western region is more rich and varied than in the eastern regions of South Africa.
Of the world's six Floral Kingdoms, this is the smallest and richest per area unit. Contrast it in size with the Holarctic Kingdom, which incorporates the whole of the northern hemisphere apart from the tropical regions.
 The diversity of Fynbos plants is greater than that of the tropical rainforests, with over 9000 species of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which are endemic, i.e. do not occur anywhere else in the world.
Of the Ericas, 600 occur in the Fynbos kingdom, while only 26 are found in the rest of the world. This is in an area of 46,000 kmē - by comparison, the Netherlands, with an area of 33,000 kmē, has 1400 species, none of them endemic.
Table Mountain in Cape Town supports 2200 species, more than the entire United Kingdom. Thus, although the Fynbos comprises only 6% of the area of southern Africa, it has half the species on the subcontinent, and in fact has almost 1 in 5 of all plant species in the entire continent.
The Plants
Fynbos is characterised by four growth forms : tall shrubs with large leaves (proteoids); heath-like shrubs (ericoids) with needle like foliage; wiry reed-like plants (restioids); and bulbous herbs (geophytes).
Fire
Fynbos is very well adapted to the conditions that exist in this area. These conditions are poor soil, high winter rainfall, summer drought, strong winds and fire. Surprisingly fire is essential for the survival of the fynbos for three main reasons. Fynbos plants take what few nutients they can from the poor soils and store these nutrients within themselves. Fire puts those nutrients back into the soil in the form of ash.
The larger fynbos species left to grow will crowd out the smaller species - fire opens the canopy and allows the smaller species to grow.
Finally, many of the fynbos plants rely on fire for the germination of their seed. For instance most of the proteas retain their seeds until fire releases them. The cone flowers or Leucadendrons have woody cones that only open in the extreme heat of a fire. In the case of the restios it is chemicals in the smoke of a fire that lead to germination of the seeds.
On average most fynbos plant communities burn every 12-15 years.
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