Flora & Fauna

Vegetation

Lesotho is spectacular and natural. The remoter areas has barely been disturbed by man. The alpine flora is exciting, with species such as the strange Spiral Aloe (Aloe polyphylla) that is both unique to Lesotho and is the national flower. It even exists in both left and right-handed spiral varieties! Look for it on the steep basalt slopes of the Maluti. The high meadows and mountain crags support a unique assembly of Cape Alpine flowers, punctuated by the vivid spikes of red-hot pokers and the candelabra of the larger aloes.

It is intended to create a vast Drakensberg-Maluti Alpine Park to protect and conserve this rare wealth for all time. Interestingly, because Lesotho is more alpine in climate than elsewhere in Southern Africa, many European garden species of the Cape Floral Kingdom derive from specimens collected in Lesotho.

Aloe Spiral ca-img_5449-lesotho,-maleal.jpg Aloe Flower ca-img_5753-lesotho,-maleal.jpg Queen Blossom ce04-queen-of-the-night.jpg