Renosterveld

Renosterveld is a term used for one of the major plant communities and vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral Kingdom) which is located in southwestern and southeastern South Africa, in southernmost Africa. It is an ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.

Renosterveld directly translated in the Afrikaans language means "rhinoceros-field", a possible reference to the high number of rhinoceroses seen by the Afrikaner settlers at the time. It may also derive its name from the renosterbos ("rhinoceros bush - Elytropappus rhinocerotis), which is a common species of shrub found here. The dull grey colour of renosterbos is similar to the colour of a rhino's hide.

Renosterveld plants grow on rich soil, which makes them more nutritious than typical fynbos plants. Typically, renosterveld is largely confined to fine-grained soils - mainly clays and silts - which are derived from the shales of the Malmesbury and Bokkeveld Groups and the Karoo Sequence. In drier regions it also occurs on Cape Granite Suite-derived soils.

Renosterveld usually grows in areas that have moderate winter rainfall of 300–600 mm per year. It can survive relatively frequent fires.

This vegetation type is dominated by a species of grey-coloured plant called the renosterbos. However, the Proteas, Ericas and Restios - typical of fynbos habitats, tend to occur in very low abundance in renosterveld. There are few endemics to renosterveld vegetation alone, many of the species occurring in fynbos as well. However, species endemic to the Cape Floristic Region comprise about one-third of renosterveld plant species, and many of these belong to families which are not considered to be of "Cape affinity" (i.e. these families are also diverse outside the Cape Floral Kingdom).

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