A provisional analysis of the Flora of Stellenbosch

The topography, hydrology, geology, soils as well as the climate of the study area are discussed and a map illustrating the boundaries of the area, is provided. Floristic relations between taxa in the Flora of Stellenbosch (FSTE) are examined and compared to those of other areas. Results indicate that the FSTE is richer in taxa than other areas of similar size. The FSTE in comparison with other areas, possesses the highest number of species per square kilometre. The ranking of families does not differ significantly in comparison to similar rankings for other comparable areas, except that the ranking of the Poaceae and Cyperaceae is significantly higher in the FSTE than for the Cape Flora. A systematic list of FSTE is presented as an appendix