Fynbos Garden
Fynbos, meaning "fine bush" in Afrikaans, is the natural shrub land or heath land vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate. Fynbos grows in a 100-200 km wide coastal belt stretching from Clanwilliam on the West coast to Port Elizabeth on the Southeast coast. It forms part of the Cape floral kingdom, where it accounts for half of the surface area and 80% of the plant varieties. The fynbos in the western regions is more rich and varied than in the eastern regions of South Africa. One of the distinctive features of the de Noordhoek Hotel is its fynbos garden. This fynbos garden comprises a central courtyard in the hotel with a fountain as a central feature, and with the exception of four lemon trees is completely indigenous fynbos.
It is not every hotel in the Western Cape that can boast of having a completely indigenous fynbos garden. The diversity of fynbos plants is greater than that of the tropical rainforests, with over 9000 species of plants occurring in the area, around 6200 of which are endemic, i.e. do not occur anywhere else in the world. Table Mountain itself supports 2200 species, more than the entire United Kingdom. Of the Ericas (heathers), 600 occur in the fynbos kingdom, while only 26 are found in the rest of the world. Enjoying a fine breakfast in the de Noordhoek Hotel’s dining room while looking out over the hotels fynbos garden is a pleasure that is not to be missed.
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