"South Africa's
fynbos are a wonder of the natural world. Not content merely to
eke out an existance 
in the unlikeliest of
environments - where the landscape is parched in summer and
drenched in winter, where soils are nutrient-starved and where
fires frequently rage - this unique vegetation is exuberant in
its floral diversity. Nowhere else on earth are so many plant
species crammed into such a small area.
The Cape fynbos makes up four-fifths of
the Cape Floral Kingdom which covers an area of less than 90 000
square kilometres and hosts 8600 plant species, 5800 of which are
endemic. To put this in perspective, the British Isles, three and
a half times larger, have only 1 500 plants, fewer than 20 of
which are endemic.
Yet few people
appreciate the wonder that is the Cape - though many Cape plants,
such as geraniums, have become household adornments 
worldwide. The Cape Floral Kingdom
containts 526 of the world's 740 Erica species, with their
glorious flowers; 96 Gladiolus species out of the world's 160;
and 69 Proteas out of the 112 on earth."
(FYNBOS: SOUTH AFRICA'S UNIQUE FLORAL KINGDOM - Richard Cowling & Dave Richardson. The Universaty of Cape Town.)