Julie and Charles Oertel started 'The Fijnbosch Farme Trust' to take care of a parcel of pristine mountain fynbos near Piketberg, in 1995. Julie is a pharmacist by profession, and Charles a space physicist – but their love of nature, animals and plants has inspired them to make a living sharing the wonders of the Cape fynbos with others.

Via their website at http://finebushpeople.co.za they provide fynbos seeds and information to enthusiasts all over the globe. Visitors to Kirstenbosch Gardens love to buy their Starter Packs as gifts or mementos of the glorious Cape Floral Kingdom.

Did you know?
1. There are 6 floral kingdoms in the world, and the Cape Floral Kingdom (fynbos) is by far the smallest (less than 1% of the total area), yet the richest in diversity.
2. The Cape Peninsula and Table Mountain has over two thousand different plant species. This is more than the whole of Great Britain, which is five thousand times larger in area. Table Mountain alone supports 1 470 species.
3. The highest concentration of Red Data Book species is in the Cape Flats, where 15 species per square kilometre are in danger of extinction.
4. Almost 75% of South Africa's threatened or rare plants are found in the fynbos.
5. Fynbos comprises of 4 plant forms: restios (reeds), ericas, proteaceae, and geophytes (bulbs).
6. Although a patch of fynbos may consist of various combinations of these genera, true fynbos always has restio present.
7. Fynbos depends on fire to regenerate – the plants use a variety of strategies to survive a burn, and many fynbos seeds depend on fire to germinate:
1. Mimetes seeds have a fleshy outer section that entices ants to carry them underground to eat – but the seed itself is smooth and round so that the ants cannot carry them out of their nest after the flesh is eaten. The ant nest protects the seed from fire.
2. The King protea has an underground tuber that can resprout when the branches on the surface burn.
3. Protea nitida (waboom) has a thick bark that protects it from fire.
4. Protea repens keeps its seed on the bush in a closed, dried out flowerhead. After a fire the flowerhead opens and drops the seed on the bare ground.
8. Many seeds start germinating when the first rains after a fire soak them. They detect the smoke dissolved in the water and use this as a cue. After a fire, the seedling has a better chance of establishing itself:
1. There are no older plants to compete with it for water and nutrients,
2. the soil is richer in nutrients because the fire releases the minerals stored in the plants it burns,
3. the seedling will enjoy full sun because the plants that would have shaded it will have perished in the fire.



Fine Bush People

Phone: +27 (0) 21 701 3338
Website: www.finebushpeople.co.za
Email: julie@finebushpeople.co.za

35 Lake Rd
Norfolk Park
Kirstenhof
Cape Town