fynbos, noun

/ˈfeɪnbɔs//ˈfeɪnbɒs/
Forms:
Formerly also fynbosch.
Origin:
See Moodie quotation 1987.
Cape macchia, a vegetation type of small, often heath-like trees and shrubs with fine, hard leaves, characteristic particularly of the Western Cape. Also attributive. See also Cape Floral Kingdom.
Note:
The term ‘fynbos’ is well established in specialized botanical and ecological writing.
1881 ‘W.H.P.G.’ in Cape Monthly Mag. IV. June 375If the elephants and buffels are all killed off, and the land is not opened up by the hand of man, there will be no getting through the forest and the fynbosch.
1918 J.W. Bews Grasses & Grasslands of S. Afr. 89South-Western or Cape Region of Macchia or Fynbosch.
1925 J.W. Bews Plant Forms & their Evolution 11The South African term Fynbosch should be maintained for it is equivalent more or less to the term Macchia.
1961 M.M. Cole S. Afr. 64Proteas (Proteaceae)..are characteristic of the Cape macchia (or fynbos as it is locally called).
1966 C.A. Smith Common Names 217Fynbos,..The vernacular name has..been employed to describe typical Cape vegetation with its high percentage of species with fine or ericoid leaves.
1976 S.C. Seagrief Reading SignsThe fynbos is fire resistant and regenerates from perennial rootstocks. It is also extremely susceptible to invasion by exotic plants.
1977 E. Prov. Herald 4 May 19The fynbos, the coastal vegetation type that starts with the Cape flora and extends to Port Elizabeth has been reduced to less than 40 per cent of its original size...Consisting of about 11 000 species, it has an estimated 1 500 species classed as rare or endangered.
c1980 S. Afr. 1979: Off. Yrbk (Info. Service of S. Afr.) 17A chaparral-like vegetation, variously known as sclerophyllous bush, ‘fynbos’, Cape scrub or Cape macchia, occurs in the winter rainfall area of the south western Cape and along parts of the south coast.
1981 Afr. Wildlife Vol.35 No.2, 13The fynbos flora of the South-Western Cape justly draws tributes from botanists world-wide for its beauty and richness.
1983 Siegfried & Crowe in F. Kruger et al. Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems 403The Fynbos Biome..is characterized by four indigenous vegetation types: Strandveld, coastal renosterveld, coastal fynbos and mountain fynbos.
1987 B. Moodie in Motorist 2nd Quarter 14Fynbos, meaning fine bush or small shrub in Afrikaans, popularly covers several shrub species which..are able to conserve water during the hot summers.
1988 Quagga No.20–1, 21The Cape fynbos is a unique plant kingdom which is understood by very few people.
1993 Afr. Wildlife Vol.47 No.2, 180Researchers..have recently discovered that smoke from fynbos fires stimulates the germination of seed of many fynbos species.
Cape macchia, a vegetation type of small, often heath-like trees and shrubs with fine, hard leaves, characteristic particularly of the Western Cape. Also attributive.
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