Silwerboomkloof Natural Heritage Site
Silwerboomkloof Natural Heritage Site is a small, protected valley (“kloof”), near the Helderberg Nature Reserve, in Somerset West, South Africa.
The name Silwerboomkloof means “Valley of the Silvertrees”. The rare Silvertree (Leucadendron argenteum) is a striking, silver-coloured tree of the Protea family, and this reserve conserves a forest of them. The iconic Silvertree is actually indigenous to the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, making the population at Silwerboomkloof a bit of an isolated anomaly. This 4.9-hectare (12-acre) reserve encloses a section of “Granite Fynbos” and “Renosterveld” and a total of around 220 species of plant have been recorded.
- The shiny silver foliage of the rare "Silvertree" protea.
- A Silvertree growing on the slopes of Silwerboomkloof.