Cape Floristic Kingdom, Plant kingdom near Cape Town, South Africa.

The Cape Floristic Kingdom is the smallest of the world's six floral kingdoms, covering 78,555 km² within South Africa. It runs from Clanwilliam on the Atlantic coast to the surroundings of Port Elizabeth, a belt up to 100 km wide. Most of it is fynbos, a fire-prone shrubland of proteas, heaths and restios on acid, nutrient-poor soils derived from Table Mountain sandstone. Winters bring 500–700 mm of rain, 70 percent of it between June and August; summers are dry at 25–35 °C.

Dutch settlers under Jan van Riebeeck began European colonization of the Cape in the 17th century, and the British Empire later took over the colony. In 1975 the De Hoop area was listed under the Ramsar wetland convention, and in 1998 the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve was created. In 2004 eight protected areas, from Table Mountain National Park to the Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The region's name comes from the Dutch "Kaap", for the Cape of Good Hope, which the area adjoins. Rooibos is produced out of this region, but the plant grows only in a small part of it, around Clanwilliam in the west, not across the whole landscape. Many ornamental plants from here, such as agapanthus, freesia and gerbera, were acclimatised in the Crimea and the Caucasus in the 1950s and 1960s.

The World Heritage Site comprises eight protected areas, from Table Mountain National Park to the Cederberg, Groot Winterhoek, Swartberg and Baviaanskloof reserves. The region spans 78,555 km2 across the Western and Eastern Cape, so distances between sites are long. Winter (June–August) brings 500–700 mm of rain, about 70% of the annual total, while December–February is hot and dry at 25–35 °C.

A striking feature is the high proportion of plant species that exist nowhere else on Earth and are found only in this region. These endemic plants account for much of the diversity visitors encounter here.