This visitor's guide has been fully updated and revised to include changing garden exhibits and new features, such as the the Boomslang elevated walkway.

An attractive memento and guide to Cape Town’s world-famous botanical garden, it traces the history and development of Kirstenbosch, from its establishment in 1913 to the showcase of indigenous flora it is today.

It includes:

• Prominent garden features (the Protea, Erica and Cycad gardens, Dell, Boomslang Tree Canopy Walkway, Conservatory, and more)
• Floral highlights of all four seasons
• A detailed map (with walking, climbing and mountain bike routes)
• Spectacular photographs (many against Table Mountain)

This guide to South Africa's world-renowned botanic garden traces the establishment and development of Kirstenbosch, from its inception in 1913, through the difficult years of creating a garden from the forested and overgrown mountainside, to the triumph that Kirstenbosch represents today. Tribute is paid to those who have made significant contributions to its development; and prominent features of the garden are detailed, such as the protea, erica and restio gardens, the Dell, the Conservatory, Camphor Avenue, as well as floral highlights of the four seasons. Photographs portray the extraordinary beauty of the garden, both its setting against the backdrop of Table Mountain and the diverse and often spectacular flora that is indigenous to the area. Layout maps show special features, significant buildings and activity venues, as well as walks or climbs that can be undertaken from the garden.

This photographic showcase features the rich and unique wild flowers of the Cape and opens with a portfolio of colourful representatives of the region's floral wealth. The flowers presented are grouped together according to geographical regions, beginning in the north-west near Niewoudtville, then moving southwards towards Cape Town and then eastwards as far as Port Elizabeth. Unique families are included, among them the Proteas, Ericas, Mesembranths, Bruniacea and amaryllas. Following upon the photographic portfolio the author explores this flora, the reasons for its uniqueness and variety and types of vegetation associated with the different areas. He looks at the role that fire plays in generating a range of otherwise dormant species and the effects of rainfall and other climatic factors on the type of flora in each area. Also discussed are the interrelationships between the flowers and other living forms, such as birds, insects and mammals.