In Cape Town, South Africa, there is a huge Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, right next to the famous Table Mountain (from the park, by the way, you can climb the paths directly to the mountain on foot). Today I want to show you one of the inhabitants of the garden. This is one of the representatives of Cycads, very ancient plants that appeared even before the dinosaurs.
Cycads are often mistaken for ferns or palm trees, but they do not belong to them at all, and there are not so many of them left in the world, compared with how wide they were spread in earlier geological eras. Now they are found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions.
Among them, there are also higher plants with a trunk, so that's why they look like a palm tree. It was interesting to walk among them and imagine how once majestic dinosaurs passed by the same plants. By the way, quite realistic dinosaur sculptures are placed in places where Cycads grow in the Gardens — to enhance the experience)
It's better to watch the photos in high resolution.
First photo of the post:
OLYMPUS E-M1 Mark II
Exposure time: 1/80 sec
Aperture: F 2.8
Sensitivity: ISO 320
Focal length: 40 mm
35 mm equivalent: 80 mm
You can also see my photos in my blog LJ and in my profile on NatGeo