Kirstenbosch: one of the world's great gardens

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden really is one of the world's great botanic gardens and a delight to visit. This post is based on a visit we paid to it in May this year. It was my third visit, but the others were long ago, before the advent of digital photography into my life, so the photos here reflect just that one very warm and quite windy Saturday morning. It means that they don't really give much idea of the garden's wildlife, but hopefully I can show you enough that you can share my love for this place.

One of the key points of Kirstenbosch is its location at the eastern foot of mighty Table Mountain; the gardens cover a substantial 36ha, but there are also nearly 500ha of wild fynbos (the hugely rich heathlands of the Western Cape) and forest managed by the gardens. It all connects to the even larger Table Mountain National Park. 

View of part of the Table Mountain massif from the nice outdoor cafe/restaurant in the gardens.

Looking up to Castle Rock from one of the many garden paths in Kirstenbosch.
Most of Cape Town is underlaid by 560 million year old sedimentary shales; however under Kirstenbosch
and the whole Cape Peninsula to the south are slightly younger granites.
The hard erosion-resisting cap of Table Mountain comprises tough coarse sandstone.

The true nature of Table Mountain as the northern end of a range can be appreciated from the gardens; the 'table' aspect is only obvious from other and more distant perspectives. 

Table Mountain behind Cape Town from the north, across St Helena Bay.
Kirstenbosch is 'behind and to the left' of the mountain; the rugged peak to the left is Fernwood Peak
which towers over the gardens just to the right of Castle Rock in the previous photo.

But, back to the gardens. We don't know who the Kirsten was of 'Kirsten's forest'; the name was recorded in 1795, though no Kirstens are known to have been associated with it. (It's certainly a Cape Town name though; indeed we stayed nearby at a lovely B and B owned by South African cricketing great Gary Kirsten and his wife Deborah.) The controversial and influential Cecil Rhodes bought the property in 1895, but importantly he left the land to the government on his death in 1902. It was then neglected until 1911, when Harold Pearson, professor of botany at Cape Town College, came across it while searching for a site for a botanic gardens. The government accepted his recommendation, and the garden was founded in 1913. It was a huge task, preparing a vast run-down, weed- and pig-infested neglected farm with many exotic plantations, but labour was cheap... 

Pearson was an expert on cycads, and his collections formed the basis of the excellent living collection now in Kirstenbosch.

Part of the Kirstenbosch cycad garden - and yes, that is a pterosaur that you see! They are making the twin points that
cycads are indeed very ancient plants, and that many species of cycads (including most African ones) are faced with
extinction such as befell the dinosaurs, though the cycads' plight is mostly associated with human activity,

Pearson died in 1916 aged only 46, and three years later, at the conclusion of his war service, Professor Robert Compton took his place. For 34 years until 1953 he held the posts of both director of the gardens and professor of botany at Cape Town University (which is on the nearby slopes of Table Mountain). He was a visionary and a very hard worker. He began the gardens herbarium in 1939 with 18 cabinets; when he retired just 14 years later the 60,000 specimens (of which Compton contributed 35,000) filled 119 cabinets. Today there are 750,000 specimens, of 12,000 plant species, comprising the second-largest herbarium in southern Africa. Compton described more than 200 plant species in his life and more than 20 others are named (by others) for him. (When he retired he moved to Swaziland - now Eswatini - and carried out a national botanical survey for the government. His Flora of Swaziland appeared in 1976 when was 90. He died in Cape Town in 1979, aged 93.)

But once again, back to the gardens! Perhaps for the rest a stroll through the gardens might be the best way to introduce them.

The somewhat hazy view out over the sprawling Cape Flats suburbs to the towering Hottentots' Holland mountains.

I mentioned that our wildlife experience this time was relatively limited (partly due to conditions, but mostly our fault, as it was our first morning in South Africa and we got a late start). However there is always something there. I have read that since dogs were banned from the gardens in the mid 2000s  wildlife watching has greatly improved.

Two handsome birds that are readily seen in Kirstenbosch - as they are throughout South Africa,
and indeed through most of the continent.
Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca above and Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris below.

The often confiding African Dusky Flycatcher Muscicapa adusta isn't quite so familiar, though it occurs
across the southern coast of South Africa and scattered through mid-eastern Africa to the Red Sea,
including in well-vegetated gardens.

Others are a bit more restricted. Kirstenbosch is an excellent place for close views of the often shy Cape Spurfowl (or Francolin) Pternistis capensis, which is limited to the south-west of South Africa, plus a population along the Orange River on the Namibian Border.

The Kirstenbosch Cape Spurfowl are entirely accustomed to gawking visitors.
And who wouldn't gawk at that lovely subtly patterned plumage?

We also saw a Cape (or Small) Grey Mongoose Galerella pulverulenta hunting in the garden beds while we had lunch, and we read that Cape Clawless Otters Aonyx capensis still occur in the gardens, though scarce and shy. This is the nearest we got to them however.

It's a lovely sculpture and when first encountered certainly brings you up short for a moment!

This very African shelter built, like the retaining walls, steps etc, from local stone,
is typical of the tasteful infrastructure.

One addition since my last visit in 2005 is the lovely sinuous 130 metre canopy walk, called the Boomslang for the highly venomous arboreal snake which its curves are supposed to resemble.

And from this perspective the snake allusion is not at all hard to understand.

Looking along the boomslang.

The view of the forest - well-established plantings - from the canopy walk.

We ended our memorable visit with a very pleasant low key lunch on the verandah of the cafe.

Approaching the cafe from one of  many the garden paths.

But ultimately of course a botanic gardens is about plants, so let's end with some African plants featured at Kirstenbosch. Unfortunately not many of the Proteas or Ericas, quintessential South African heathland genera, were flowering at that time.

Silver Tree Leucadendron argenteum a highly endangered (and lovely) species, found naturally only
on the slopes of Table Mountain.
(There are a couple of other populations near Cape Town, but their status as natural populations is very questionable.)

A Kirstenbosch Silver Tree with its natural home behind it. Suburban development, clearing
for pine and eucalypt plantations and inappropriate fire regimes are the basic causes of its plight.

King Protea P. cynaroides, South Africa's floral emblem. It was just starting to flower and sadly not
attracting any sunbirds or sugarbirds while we were in attendance.
Unlike the Silver Tree (in the same family) it is found right across the south of the country.

Strelitzia juncea, one of the bird-of-paradise flowers, among the most widely recognised and grown
South African plants outside of its home. One of five similar species in the small family Strelitziaceae,
this one is perhaps not the one mostly grown as it occurs naturally only sparsely, in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth.

Another familiar South African export, one of the 70 or so species of red hot pokers, Kniphofia linearifolia.All are African, most are South African; this one grows as far north as Malawi.
Like the next two plants, this one is in the large lily family Asphodelaceae.

Candalabra Aloe A. arborescens, a magnificent big lily that grows in rocky areas
from eastern South Africa north to Malawi.

Bulbine frutescens, a genus familiar to people from my part of the world, though there are
only a few species here, compared with many in southern Africa.

African Mahogany Khaya anthotheca Family Melicaceae is not related to the Asian mahoganies, but is in the
same family as the Australian 'cedars'. The story is widely put about that the genus name came from a
misunderstanding when 'a botanist' asked his guide 'somewhere in Africa' what it was and got the response
'khaya' which purportedly means 'I don't know'. Some more detail - ie the botanist's name, the place and language,
and an explanation as to how he was working with a guide with whom he couldn't communicate - might lend
a little more credibility to the tale. Lovely tree though! It is found widely in central African forests
and in plantations in Africa and beyond.

Mountain Cypress Widdringtonia nodiflora Family Cupressaceae, a conifer found on mountains
in southern Africa, including Table Mountain.

Confetti Bush Coleonema pulchellum, Family Rutaceae. A South African endemic, I understand
that it has become naturalised in Victoria, but I've not knowingly seen it there. It's pretty spectacular in flower!

Restio sp., Family Restionaceae. We are familiar with rush-like Restios in Australia, but
it is now agreed that Restio is solely an African genus, and ours have been renamed.
The ones I know here are very modest indeed compared with this magnificent giant.
Plants such as this one form important habitat for quite a few South African birds.

And lastly a display of lovely daisies for which I don't have names. That doesn't interfere
with our enjoyment of them though.

If you can, you should certainly consider going to South Africa. And if you do, don't just go to the east of the country, though Kruger NP is a must - the Western Cape is well worth a visit too, not least for fabulous Kirstenbosch.

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