Why is the Namaqualand flora unique?
The Namaqualand has a very low, sporadic winter rainfall, and incredibly dry summers. This means that the plans have to adapt in order to survive moist winters followed by dry summers. In winter and spring, there are many perrenials and annuals but in summer all the plant life vanishes. The annuals avoid the dry summer by germinating, flowering and serring seed during the winter and spring months. They survive the summers as seeds. Other plants survive as bulbs, corms or tubers. Another reason the Namaqualand plants are different is that they produce vast amounts of seed because many of their seeds do not survive the harsh summer months.
