Cape flower region

The Cape flower region is a nature area near the south end of South Africa. The region is the smallest of the six "flower kingdoms" of the world, as recognised by Ronald Good. Its formal title is the Cape (South Africa) Floristic Region. The region has very high diversity. Many kinds of plants are found there. Most of them are unique. There are more than 9,000 vascular plant species. Sixty-nine of them are found only there. Much of this diversity is because of the fynbos, a Mediterranean-type shrubland that can easily be destroyed by wildfires. The economic worth of the fynbos area may be about R77 million a year from harvests of products (like wildflowers) and from eco-tourism. The Cape flower region has both economic and biological value. It is a good place to look for many kinds of plants, insects, small animals and other creatures in nature. References Other websites Conservation International: Cape floristic Region - biodiversity hotspot Conservation International: Cape floristic Region (Hotspots revisited) Archived 2009-07-05 at the Wayback Machine Cape Action: the Cape floristic Region Archived 2010-12-03 at the Wayback Machine