African Flowers

Many of the plants sold and grown in parts of the United States originate from Africa. Most likely, however, homeowners are unaware of the international roots of the plants in their garden.

There are many species of flora native to Africa; each section of the continent boasts flora widely diverse from the next.

South Africa

Ten percent of the world's flowering species can be found in South Africa. This region has some of the most varied flora in the world, mainly in the Cape. The Cape region is treated by botanists as its own entity because of its abundance and diversity of plant life. This portion of Africa is known for its hard-leaf evergreen plants and for succulents, such as aloes and euphorbias. Species of the African flower Erica, a common garden plant, and the African flower Gladiolus also are found in this area. Erica, which is becoming scarce, is a hardy plant with showy flowers.

The King Protea is a popular African flower and also is referred to as sugarbush. It is the national flower of South Africa. Other African flowers and plants native to this area are Bird-of-Paradise, jade and many types of daisies and ice plants, which are regarded as ornamental plants. They are in the succulent family and their flowers can range from yellow to bright red.

East Africa

This is the mountainous region of the continent known as the Afro-Alpine Belt. This area is home to the tree-senecios, which look like large cabbages on huge trunks, and the tree-lobelias, which are tall, columnar plants growing for about 20 years before they flower once and die. The most well-known house and office plant, the African violet, also originates from this region. This African flower has dark green foliage and produces clusters of violet, pink or white flowers.

West Africa

The rain forests in Africa produce a bulk of timber, such as the Coffee Liberica tree, the Oil Palm and several species of the African flower known as the Rubber Plant. Liberica coffee tends to have a harsh taste and a large amount of caffeine. The Oil Palm produces some of the most popular edible oil in the world: palm and palm kernel oil. Because of cultivation occurring over many years, there are almost no untouched areas of primary vegetation left in West Africa.

Africa's Savannas

This area produces economic goods, such as the Date Palm, which is cultivated for its edible fruit, and the Shea tree, which produces almond-like fruits from which shea butter is extracted. Destruction of this tree is forbidden in Africa because of its economic, health and social benefits.