fynbos

/ ˈfeɪnbɒs /

noun

1. a type of vegetation unique to the Mediterranean-climate region of southern and southwestern South Africa, characterized by evergreen hard-leaved shrubs and almost no trees

Word History and Origins

Origin of fynbos¹

Afrikaans: fine bush

Example Sentences

The rosette growth habit is found around the world, from the fynbos shrublands of South Africa to the dry grasslands of Australia to the prairies of the American Midwest.

From New York Times

This place also houses plants such as the towering Goliath aloes from the Fynbos region of South Africa “that give you a chance to see what succulents look like in the wild,” says our volunteer guide, Cassandra Jones, a visual artist and storyteller who became the garden’s first artist-in-residence this year.

From Los Angeles Times

The alien trees also threaten native animals and plants in the Cape Floral Kingdom, where 70% of the plants, like the famous fynbos range of plants that are found nowhere else on the planet.

From Reuters

A single pine tree consumes at least 20% more water than the fynbos.

From Reuters

Needle-leaf featherbush lives in the fynbos region of South Africa, a stretch with more botanical diversity than the Amazon rain forest.

From Scientific American