page_title: Wildlife of Malawi
section_title: Flora
hierarchical_section_title: Wildlife of Malawi / Flora
caption_attribution_description: Typical Miombo Forest, Northern Nyika, Malawi
context_page_description: The wildlife of Malawi is composed of the flora and fauna of the country. Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, with Lake Malawi taking up about a third of the country's area. It has around 187 species of mammal, some 648 species of birds have been recorded in the country and around 500 species of fish, many of them endemic, are found in its lakes and rivers. About 20% of the country has been set aside as national parks and game and forest reserves.
context_section_description: The western part of the country lies in the Southern Miombo woodlands ecoregion, characterised by tall trees with a lower storey of shrubs and grasses.  The natural vegetation of much of the low- and mid-level areas of Malawi is a form of deciduous forest and shrubland known as Zambezian and mopane woodlands. Between 500 and 1,500 m (1,600 and 4,900 ft) this is mostly miombo woodland, dominated by Brachystegia trees which are often interspersed with Julbernardia and Isoberlinia trees.
  Much of the forest has been cleared to make way for agricultural land. Mopane woodland, dominated by Colophospermum mopane, used to be abundant but only a few patches remain. Similarly, Acacia / Combretum woodland has largely been depleted, but larger areas of rainforest remain at mid to high altitudes, especially in the north of the country. The high plateaux are clad in low grasses, heathers and heaths, with many flowering plants blooming after the rainy season. Swamps are found in the Shire Valley and around Lake Chilwa. Wild date palms grow in some highland areas and near the Shire River, and raffia palms are found near upland streams and are common in the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve. Around four hundred species of orchid have been recorded in the country, 120 of them epiphytic. They are most abundant in Nyika National Park and growing on the surrounding mountainsides.
caption: Miombo woodland in 
  Nyika National Park
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