^{(Photograph = Namaqualand flowers, Malcolm Manners)}

Introduction

South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana are the homes of vast desert areas. The great Kalahari Desert in Botswana extends into the other countries. The joint coasts of South Africa and Namibia also have another great desert, the Namib.

The Details

The Namib runs along the coast of Namibia and the Northern Province of South Africa. The southern part of the Namib is known as Namaqualand. Namaqualand generally seems barren and parts seem devoid of plant life. But every few years the rains are plentiful and the “Namaqualand daisy season” begins.

Flowering plants of all types cover the land in orange and yellow, punctuated by spots of white, red, and magenta. Many dozens of species flower together. The spectacular sight attracts tourists from around the world.

Tree aloes, shrubs, grasses, forbs, bulbs, succulents, perennials, and wildflowers bloom because they must. It will likely be years before they experience regular rain again. The plants must compress their flowering cycles into a few weeks and, when the season is past, the wildflowers are safe for years to come in their soil seed banks.

Additional Reading: Namaqualand