Nature areas overview

The vegetation of the St Francis region comprises a mixture of fynbos and subtropical thicket plants – hence its name: St Francis Dune Fynbos-Thicket Mosaic. It grows on coastal dune sands from beyond Oyster Bay in the west, to Cape Receife at Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in the east. It is classified as a Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA) owing to its high numbers of endemic species (growing nowhere else) and threats from urban expansion and alien plant invasions. As a CBA, no further habitat loss is allowed  without detailed plans to mitigate the impacts.

The soils are sandy and alkaline, owing to the high content of shell particles. 

While fynbos usually has three plant forms – proteoids, restioids and ericoids – the local fynbos differs in lacking proteas, but restios are plentiful with slangriet (Ischyrolepsis eleocharis) and besemriet (Ischyrolepsis leptoclados).  Tiny-leaved ericoids are common, though true ericas are quite rare, apart from Erica chloroloma.  As is characteristic of all fynbos, these plants age rapidly, and start becoming senescent after about 12 years. Naturally, these old plants are reduced to ashes by regular fires, enabling rejuvenation through the establishment of seedlings, as well as resprouting from underground organs. 

While fire is essential for maintaining the health and diversity of fynbos, it suppresses thicket. So thicket is most common in areas that are relatively fire-free, such as deep kloofs, rocky outcrops and along the coast where fires can move in only from inland areas.

Thicket shrubs generally have larger leathery  leaves,  and don’t benefit from fire. Seedlings, usually germinating from bird-dispersed fruits, don’t need fire to establish.  While many thicket shrubs can resprout after fire, their recovery is slow. They are extremely long-lived, surviving for many hundreds of years. 

Thicket plants are also more nutritious than fynbos shrubs to browsing animals such as bushbuck. Many thicket shrubs have vicious spines to slow down herbivory. The nutritious foliage, along with the cool and dry conditions beneath the dense thicket canopy, contributes to the development of the organic-rich soils of the thicket floor (so called black or bush soil). 

Our area has different wetland types, each with a different assortment of plant species. As example, along the wildside are the coastal seep wetlands where water pimpernel (Samolus porosus) and sea lavender (Limonium scabrum) are found.