Montane flora of the southern Langeberg, South Africa: A checklist of the flowering plants and ferns

Abstract

The flora of the southern Langeberg is rich, with 1 228 species and intraspecific taxa (referred to collectively as species) recorded in 361 genera and 105 families. An analysis of the montane flora of the southern Langeberg, Western Cape, South Africa based on an annotated checklist shows that the Asteraceae has the highest number of species per family (167) and the genus Erica has the most infrageneric taxa per genus (130) as well as the most endemic species (51). One endemic monotypic family, the Geissolomataceae, two endemic genera Geissoloma and Langebergia (Asteraceae) and a total of 167 endemic species are found on the southern Langeberg. The plant families of the southern Langeberg flora are ranked according to species-richness of the families and compared with floras of other areas (mainly montane) in the Fynbos Biome and marginally to the east of this biome (the Amatole Mountains). The greatest similarity of ranking is evident between the plant families of the southern Langeberg and those of the Cape Hangklip Area.