Annals at the main gate Spring daisies next to the main lawn Protea Garden - Silver tree  (Leucadendron argentum) Restio Garden Succulent on the Mathew's Rocky  (Mathew was the first curator of the Garden) Cedar tree behind  Prof. Harold Pearson's grave Cycad Amphitheatre The Conservatory

Situated on the Eastern slope of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch is one of the world's flabulous botanical garden with unique collection of SA flora.  Hiking trails leading to Table mountain are accessible from the garden. An adventurous trail was up the Skeleton gorge, via the Smut tract across the Table, reaching the highest peak of Table Mountain - Maclear's Beacon. The fynbos was the most breathtaking.

Cape Fynbos The Cape Fynbos makes up four-fifths of the Cape Floral Kingdom and host about 8600 plant species, 5800 of which are endemic. It is a Dutch derivatives of  "fine bush" describing the vegetation's small leaves, which some hikers has discovered as prickly and roughed-edged nuisance - or even worst to some as a vegetation that must be eradicated  to reduce fire hazard. But botanists and many has discovered and acknowledged their rich diversity of exquisite flowers that stretches from Clanwilliams in the north to Humansdorp in the east (1000 km long and 200km wide) and makes many walks on the mountains interesting. The Table mountain is a definite showcase of the Fynbos as the large variation of plant communities over small patches is just unbelievable.  Protea -  The fynbos is synonymous wiith the protea family (Proteaceae) which is the most prominent flowering families in Southern Atmosphere. It is a national emblem of South Africa - Protea cynaroides. It is named after the legendary god Proteus, who was could see into future and spoke the truth and able to take many forms (which is true of the family). 14 genus or 330 species out of the 1400 species in the world are confined in Cape Floral Kingdom, in nutrients poor soils derived from Table Mountain Sandstone. Some of the largest genus are Protea (Sugarbush), Leucodendron (Conebush) and Leucospermum (Pincushion). Fatal Attraction -   I was mesmerized by the Proteas;  And so I returned in search for more. In love with the Flowers of Flame, I headed for A journey with Proteas Atlas Project from ~ 19 Sep - 24 Oct 2000  NEW  King Protea (Protea cynaroides) Sunshinebush

The main plant communities are the tall protea shrubs with large leaves (proteoids); heath-like shrubs (ericoides)); wiry, reed-like plants (restioids), and bulbous herbs (geophytes).   Retios

BaoBab (Adansonia digitat) in Kruger National Park	Impala Lily / Sabi Star (Adenium multiflora) in Kruger National Park	Cherry Blossum in Sani Pass	White Arum at Drakensberg	Aloe spp. in Zululand
Lucky bean tree (Erythrina Lysistemon) in Drakensberg	Gladiolus in Table Mountain	Cephalophyllum spp. in Tsitsikarmma	The Big Tree - Outeniqua Yellowwood (Podocarpus falcutus) in Tsitsikamma	Fynbos in Cape Peninsula - Cape of Good Hope