Climatic and Phylogenetic Determinants of Flowering Seasonality in the Cape Flora

Flowering patterns in the species-rich and largely endemic flora of the southern and south-western Cape Province, South Africa, are described. Analysis of the flowering times of 7075 Cape species (83% of the flora) showed that flowering peaks in spring and then gradually tails off, reaching a trough in autumn and early winter. Flowering seasonality varies along a climatic gradient from winter rainfall in the west, where species show a spring peak, to nonseasonal rainfall in the east, where species show an early summer flowering peak. At least 20% of the flora in the winter rainfall half of the Cape region is in flower at any time of the year. This contrasts with other winter rainfall regions worldwide where very little flowering takes place outside of spring (...)