page_title: Karoo
section_title: Succulent Karoo biome
hierarchical_section_title: Karoo / Karoo flora / Succulent Karoo biome
caption_attribution_description: Afrikaans: Namaqualand, Goegap Naturreservaat, Noord-Kaap, Suid-Afrika Català: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Cap Septentrional, Sud-àfrica Čeština: Namaqualand, Goegap Přírodní rezervace, Severní Kapsko, Jihoafrická republika Dansk: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Nord-Kapprovinsen, Sydafrika Deutsch: Hester Malan Wildblumengarten mit Wüstenblüte, Namaqualand, Goegap Naturschutzgebiet, Nordkap, Südafrika English: Hester Malan Wild Flower Garden, flowering Desert, Landscape Namaqualand, Goegap Nature Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa Esperanto: Namaqualand, Goegap Naturrezervejo, Norda Kablando, Sud-Afriko Español: Namaqualand, Goegap Reserva natural, Provincia Septentrional del Cabo, Sudáfrica Eesti: Namaqualand, Goegap Looduskaitseala, Põhja-Kapimaa, Lõuna-Aafrika Vabariik Suomi: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Northern cape, Etelä-Afrikka Français&#160;: Namaqualand, Goegap Réserve naturelle, Cap-du-Nord, d'Afrique du Sud Galego: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Sudáfrica Magyar: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Dél-afrikai Köztársaság Italiano: Namaqualand, Goegap Aree naturali protette, Capo Settentrionale/Northern Cape, Sudafrica Lëtzebuergesch: Namaqualand, Goegap Naturschutzgebitt, Nordkaap, Südafrika Lietuvių: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Šiaurės Kapas, Pietų Afrikos Respublikos Nederlands: Namaqualand, Goegap Natuurgebiet, Noord-Kaap, Zuid-Afrika Norsk bokmål: Namaqualand, Goegap Naturreservat, Northern Cape, Sør-Afrika Polski: Namaqualand, Goegap Rezerwat przyrody, Prowincja Przylądkowa Północna, Republika Południowej Afryki Português: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Cabo Setentrional, África do Sul Русский: Namaqualand, Goegap N.R., Заповедник, , Южно-Африканская Республика Slovenčina: Namaqualand, Goegap Prírodná rezervácia, Severné Kapsko , Republika Južna Afrika Slovenščina: Namaqualand, Goegap Naravni rezervat, Severna Kaplandija, Republika Južna Afrika Svenska: Namaqualand, Goegap Naturreservat, Norra Kapprovinsen, Sydafrika
context_page_description: The Karoo is a semi desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.
  The ǃ’Aukarob formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the interior from Cape Town, and the early adventurers, explorers, hunters, and travelers on the way to the Highveld unanimously denounced it as a frightening place of great heat, great frosts, great floods, and great droughts. Today, it is still a place of great heat and frosts, and an annual rainfall of between 50 and 250 mm, though on some of the mountains it can be 250 to 500 mm higher than on the plains. However, underground water is found throughout the Karoo, which can be tapped by boreholes, making permanent settlements and sheep farming possible.
context_section_description: The succulent Karoo biome runs along the West Coast, from approximately Lamberts Bay northwards to over 200 km into southern Namibia. It starts in the south just north of the sandveld geographical region, about 250 km north of Cape Town, and continues through Namaqualand, the Richtersveld, immediately south of the Orange River, and on into the Namaqualand or Namaland region of southern Namibia. None of these regions is ever referred to, either geographically or locally, as "Karoo". However, it has a major extension inland into the Tankwa Karoo and Moordenaarskaroo regions of the Lower Karoo, and adjoining Upper Karoo region of the geographic Great Karoo. It also occurs to the south, in part of the Breede River Valley, as the Robertson Karoo. From here, it continues eastwards into the western half of the Little Karoo. 
  The succulent Karoo biome is dominated by dwarf, leafy-succulent shrubs, and annuals, predominantly Asteraceae, popularly known as Namaqualand daisies, which put on spectacular flower displays covering vast stretches of the landscape in the southern spring-time (August–September) after good rains in the winter. Grasses are uncommon, making most of the biome unsuitable for grazing. The low rainfall, in fact, discourages most forms of agriculture. An exception is the thriving ostrich-farming industry in the Little Karoo, which is heavily dependent on supplementary feeding with lucerne. The difference between the succulent Karoo biome and the Nama Karoo biome is that the former receives the little rain that falls as cyclonic rainfall in winter, which has less erosive power than the infrequent but violent summer thunderstorms of the Nama Karoo. Frost is also less common in the succulent Karoo biome than in the Nama Karoo biome. The number of mainly succulent plant species is very high for an arid area of this size anywhere in the world.
caption: Spring flowers in Namaqualand
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "DCF 1.0", "Image Make": "Minolta Co., Ltd.", "Image Model": "DiMAGE 7", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "A1v019e", "Image DateTime": "2001:09:28 11:11:37", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "226", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "14172", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "15749", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2001:09:28 11:11:37", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2001:09:28 11:11:37", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9", "EXIF ApertureValue": "11/2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-3/10", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "7/2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "425/16", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200"}