Essential terminology for identifying fynbos

The fynbos book

You simply can't manage without this book — You simply can’t manage without this book

Buying the book is a good start if you want to identify fynbos, but you actually have to use it!

The key

I suspect most people ignore these pages and start flipping through the book hoping that the plant you are looking for will jump out at you. This can waste a lot of time and it is worth revisiting terminology that you learnt about plants at school or technikon.

The basics are monocot and dicot, ovary superior or inferior, flowers radially symmetrical………I can feel you losing interest already.

However, all these terms are not there to flummox you. The author is really trying to use the simplest terms to create a framework for you to move around the book. It is worth persisting and really understanding these terms…….there are many more to keep you busy for the rest of your life

Remembering what we learnt at tech!!! and rebooting our brains

Working together

and then the fun starts of working together to look at real plants and connecting what you see with the text in the book. This often requires a hand lens to get up close