A living collection
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden occupies 528 hectares on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. It was the first botanical garden in the world founded, in 1913, with the specific goal of conserving and showing a country's native flora. Today, it grows over 7,000 plant species, a significant portion of the roughly 9,500 species found in the Cape Floristic Region. This region was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, and Kirstenbosch is the first botanical garden to be included within one.
The garden's 36 cultivated hectares merge with a larger, 492-hectare protected reserve of natural forest and fynbos, the dominant local vegetation. This area has critically endangered plant communities, such as Peninsula Granite Fynbos, which the garden helps preserve. Important plant families on display include the Proteaceae (like the King Protea, South Africa's national flower), Ericaceae (heaths), and Restionaceae (Cape reeds). The garden is administered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), which maintains its mission to research and conserve the nation's biodiversity.
Prehistoric plants and treetop views
One of Kirstenbosch's most scientifically important areas is the Cycad Amphitheatre. Cycads are "living fossils" because they have changed very little since the Jurassic Period, 150-200 million years ago. The garden holds 37 of southern Africa's approximately 40 cycad species, many of which are critically endangered due to illegal collection. The first director, Harold Pearson, established this collection with 400 plants, and some specimens planted over a century ago still survive.
A more modern structure is the Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway, informally known as the "Boomslang" (tree snake). Opened in 2014, this 130-meter-long steel and timber bridge rises up to 12 meters above the ground, showing views from within and above the tree canopy. Its design was inspired by a snake's skeleton and engineered to have minimal impact on the surrounding arboretum. The walkway overlooks the garden and the Afromontane forest, which contains ancient evergreen trees like the Real Yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius) and Stinkwood (Ocotea bullata).