Botany

With over 4,300 plant species in Namibia, almost 17% are endemic to Namibia.

The central and northern eastern areas of Namibia are similar to those of neighboring countries made up of Savannah. These areas are characterized as broad-leaved biomes and consist of various species of Burkea, Guibourtia, Terminalia, Combretum and Colophospermum as well as several Vachelia and Senegalia species.

The Namib Desert has a huge amount of endemic plant species. Botanists from all over the world visit the Namib because of the high percentage of endemic succulent plants such as the Hoodia, Euphorbia, Lithops and other interesting desert-adapted species.

The iconic Welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis) is also known as the "living fossil of the Namib". This unique plant is mainly found throughout the western parts of Namibia.

The area moving south onwards from Luderitz and Aus falls into a higher rainfall zone of Namaqualand and Northern Cape and therefore this biome also has many interesting plants. These include Elephants trunk Pachypodium namaquanum (Pachypodium namaquanum), Orange River Aloe (Aloe gariepensis), Boskokerboom (Aloidendron ramosissimum) and the more common Quivertree (Aloidendron dichotomum).

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