<P> Fynbos--which grows in a 100 - to - 200 - km - wide coastal belt stretching from Clanwilliam on the West coast to Port Elizabeth on the Southeast coast--forms part of the Cape floral kingdom, where it accounts for half of the surface area and 80% of the plant species . The fynbos in the western regions is richer and more varied than in the eastern regions of South Africa . </P> <P> Of the world's six floral kingdoms, this is the smallest and richest per unit of area . The Holarctic kingdom, in contrast, incorporates the whole of the Northern Hemisphere north of the tropics . The diversity of fynbos plants is extremely high, with over 9000 species of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which are endemic, i.e. growing nowhere else in the world . South Africa's Western Cape has a very high species with one estimate finding diversity 8550 species in 89000 km which is higher than that estimated for Malayan forests, 7900 species in 132000 km . It has been claimed that it exceeds even the richest tropical rainforest in South America, including the Amazon . Of the Ericas, over 600 occur in the fynbos kingdom, while only two or three dozen have been described in the rest of the world . This is in an area of 46,000 km--by comparison, the Netherlands, with an area of 33,000 km, 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 covers 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 African plant species so far described . </P> <P> Five main river systems traverse the Cape floral kingdom: the Oliphants River of the Western Cape; the Berg River which drains the West Coast Forelands plain stretching from the Cape Flats to the Olifants; the Breede, which is the largest river on the Cape; the Olifants River (Southern Cape); Gourits and the Groot Rivers which drain the Little Karoo basin and the South Coast Forelands; and the Baviaanskloof and Gamtoos Rivers to the east . </P> <P> The most conspicuous components of the flora are evergreen sclerophyllous plants, many with ericoid leaves and gracile habit, as opposed to timber forest . Several plant families are conspicuous in fynbos; the Proteaceae are prominent, with genera such as Protea, Leucospermum (the "pincushions"), and Leucadendron (the silver tree and "cone bushes"). Proteas are represented by many species and are prominent in the landscape, generally with large striking flowers, many of which are pollinated by birds, and others by small mammals . Most of these do not have anything like ericoid leaves, and nor do most Rhamnaceae, Fabaceae, or Geraniaceae . Fynbos Ericaceae include more species of Erica than all other regions combined . They are popularly called heaths and are generally smaller plants bearing many small, tubular or globular flowers and ericoid leaves . Restionaceae also occur in greater variety in fynbos than anywhere else; their species are superficially grass - like . Many of them grow in wet areas such as seasonal marshes and spongy basins in the sources of mountain streams, but others grow in decidedly arid conditions . </P>

Three reasons why the fynbos biome is so important to south africa and the world