The map above shows Ronald Good’s Floristic Kingdoms, the largest natural units he determined for flowering plants according to the coincidence of distribution areas of unrelated taxa. Such similarity in distribution patterns suggests similar evolution and dispersal histories; or, said differently, similar opportunities for and barriers against dispersal in the past. Good’s system has a hierarchical organization: the six kingdoms (Boreal, Neotropical, Paleotropical, South African, Australian, and Antarctic) are subdivided into more restricted units. The Paleotropical consists of three subkingdoms, which are each subdivided into provinces. Each of the other five kingdoms are subdivided directly into provinces. There is a total of 37 floristic provinces. Almost all provinces are further subdivided into floristic regions.
The Cape Province is the only province recognized in the tiny South African Kingdom, which frequently is referred to simply as the Cape Province.
