Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetlands
Distribution: W Cape; altitude from 0-400m. 14.7% of this vegetation type occurs within and 85.3% outside the City. However transformation rates are higher inside City borders (55%) than nationally (22%).
Vegetation & landscape: flats & depressions with extensive tall reeds of Phragmites australis & Typha capensis, temporarily or permanently flooded restiolands, sedgelands & rush-beds as well as macrophytic vegetation embedded in permanent water bodies. . Important species include Senecio halimnifolius, Paspalum vaginatum, Pennisetum macrourum, Triglochin bulbosa, Bolboschoenus maritimus and Juncus krausii.
Geology, soil & hydrology: substrate built of fine sandy, silty or clayey soils over young Quaternary sediments, largely derived from weathering Cape Supergroup shales & granites & Table Mountain sandstones. In places, especially on shales, these wetlands can acquire a brackish character.
Endemic: Low shrubs: Passerina paludosa; water bodies: Aquatic herbs: Aponogeton angustifolius, A. distachyos, Cotula myriophylloides.
Conservation: Critically endangered; Target 24%, some 14% conserved in Cape Peninsula & Agulhas National Parks, Rondevlei, Zandvlei etc.